Free cash in Spain – but there’s a catch

El Cajero de la Felicidad working its magic

It always sounds too good to be true, and usually – it is. But a recent marketing ploy by Coca-Cola left hundreds of Spaniards with very real smiles on their faces as they stuffed very real euro notes into their pockets… for free.

Let’s back up a little. Dotted around Spain in recent weeks there have been some rather conspicuous-looking ATMs popping up in random locations. Coloured in Coca-Cola’s trademark red and white, these cash machines have been labelled ‘El Cajero de la Felicidad’ – The ATM of Happiness…

On the screen, a message reads: ‘Withdraw €100 free of charge without a bank card’. It’s the kind of message we all dream of seeing whenever we stroll up to a cash machine. But this was the real deal, with one catch – whoever claimed the free cash had to promise to share it.

The ATM displayed a couple of helpful suggestions of how this might work. Recipients could buy nappies for a pregnant woman, perhaps; or purchase some footballs for a local group of youngsters. Once an option is chosen an envelope with the cash inside is dispensed, followed by the message: ‘In the same era as bad banks, there is born an ATM of happiness’.

Although the ATMs were installed purely for advertising purposes, the cash and lucky recipients were all real and random. Some of the people who were lucky enough to use the machines sent in their videos to Coca-Cola showing what they did with the money.

In a particularly tough economic climate for Spaniards, these documentations of good deeds and happiness are enough to bring a tear to the eye of even the most hard-hearted individual. So well done Coca-Cola: it was a smart strategy that has garnered plenty of good publicity, but it also brought a bit of joy to hundreds of struggling Spaniards.

Watch the ad here.