Claim: 3M launched an aggressive marketing stunt in 2005 when they placed $3 Million inside bulletproof glass at a Vancouver bus stop as an experiment in social engineering; inviting passersby to break it open and collect their reward from within its confines. Our Rating of this Marketing Stunt
In October 2024, allegations began surfacing online indicating that manufacturing conglomerate 3M placed $3 Million inside bulletproof poster glass at a Vancouver bus stop as part of an elaborate marketing stunt – promising the person who broke it could keep all the cash inside! This would allow 3M to promote itself as the money would remain theirs if anyone broke through to claim it as prize.
This claim has surfaced numerous times over time, from Reddit threads from 2011, 2012, 2022; LinkedIn posts in 2016; X updates between 2020-2024 as well as Facebook threads/comments posts from 2024 onward.
Users shared their methods for cracking glass on various social media threads. One Reddit user suggested attaching the object with chain at its base; either its weight will cause it to shift sideways and crack or it’ll come tumbling out from under its position – either way I can open that up in my garage.”
One individual asked “what prevents people from sawing through metal pipe and taking it all to a workshop to attack it with professional tools?
(XGramatik on Reddit)
Even back then in 2005, message boards were abuzz with comments regarding how best to complete this task. For example: one member suggested hiring “one guy with an adequate truck who could come at 4 AM with all his cases to start moving them and work somewhere else”.
Snopes has reached out to 3M and the marketing firm involved to verify the details of this stunt and will update this story if we get any response back from either. Until that point arrives, this claim has been classified as research in progress.
AdLand reported in December 2005 that Rethink Communications from Vancouver orchestrated this stunt, according to their 2024 report on “Under the Influence.” Rethink simply placed their display onto a street corner and “left it there,” continued Radio-Canada in their 2024 report about it, which concluded:
They set up a video camera near a bus shelter to see whether people would attempt to break through its glass panes. Sure enough, people flocked in line trying to do just that: kick, hit or even use steel-toed boots on construction workers to kick. Unfortunately for all involved though, none was successful and glass never cracked or broke!
Gizmodo reported in 2006 that instead of $3 million being held behind glass, only $500 had been hidden inside, as there had been an unwritten rule restricting users from breaking it with anything but their feet and that there would be a security guard present on site to enforce those rules.
Further, this stunt only lasted one day and featured 3M’s Scotchshield security window film instead of bulletproof glass as its centerpiece product.
3M’s website describes their product as: an optically clear, 8 mil window film that offers optical clarity while protecting from shattering glass surfaces of interior doors or windows in accordance with instructions, helping keep broken pieces together while significantly decreasing ultraviolet light entering through these surfaces. Helping prevent flying glass shards during spontaneous glass breakages as well as break and Entry Incidents, seismic events, intentional and accidental explosions as well as windstorms are some applications in which this product comes in handy.
Reports by Canadian news outlet Daily Hive indicated in 2023 that 3M gained $1 Million worth of free publicity due to organic local and national media coverage earned at the time, for an expenditure of just $6,000. Furthermore, installation lights inside of case allowed night-time illumination of money; and resulted in three month backlog orders of Scotchshield products due to this stunt.
In 2017, YouTuber Marilyn Denis uploaded an episode from her Canadian talk show featuring Scotchshield use as part of an exhibit showcasing it’s capabilities.
This stunt has since become one of the cornerstones of guerrilla marketing within marketing and advertising circles, garnering praise from publications like Better Marketing in 2020 as a prime example. According to Better Marketing: 3M’s stunt shows all that an unconventional strategy executed well can have long-lasting benefits for any business.
However, we were unable to locate any mention of Rethink’s stunt on either 3M’s official website or social media channels; though Rethink appears to have since carried out campaigns for brands including Ikea, Kraft Heinz and Penguin Random House.
As part of our investigation of viral marketing claims in 2006 and 2016, including this one featuring a billboard confronting an infidelity spouse; an event featuring a hawk dropping snake onto family barbecue in 2016; and finally the story behind “Charlie Charlie challenge” from 2015 (either directly or through viral means) respectively.
