With a budget under $200k, we were challenged by the MAC AIDS Fund (the nonprofit arm of MAC Cosmetics) to move the needle on HIV awareness among young New Yorkers. Given the budget and the challenge of breaking through the noise in NYC, we took a rather unorthodox approach that relied on earned media. All involved agreed that the level of awareness per campaign dollar was staggering.
We minted a quarter of a million coins that resemble pennies and snuck them into circulation in New York City.