A mighty 'fine' surprise.
Cashrewards, the cashback platform, has partnered with Australian actor and comedian Joel Creasey to become the brand’s first 'Cash Re-warden'.
Instead of handing out fines, Creasey handed out free money to Sydney motorists to highlight Cashrewards’ cashback offering while encouraging Aussies to shop smarter. The campaign was developed by creative PR agency, POEM.
With Australians reported to spend $600 million a year on parking fines - Cashrewards is on a mission to encourage smarter ways for Australians to get bang for their buck, with the cost of living being higher than ever.
Equipped with a high-vis vest, walkie talkie and notebook, Creasey imitated everyone’s least favourite person for a day: a parking warden.
Instead of giving out fines, Joel was handing out $270 in cold hard cash - the average cashback amount that Cashrewards most engaged members earned last year just for shopping as they usually would.
Cashrewards chief marketing officer, Nicole Bardsley, said the platform wanted to surprise people ahead of Black Friday and show the joy cashback can bring.
"Parking fines are one of the silliest ways to spend your hard-earned cash - especially with the current cost of living pressures. Earning cashback whilst you shop is so much smarter and ridiculously easy," she said.
"By shopping through Cashrewards this festive season, people can make their household Christmas budgets go so much further”.
Poem managing director and co-founder, Rob Lowe, said 'Cash Re-warden’ and last year’s ‘Billsboard’ campaign for Cashrewards are two of his favourites because the message is clear and the idea is engaging.
"The strongest and most effective work comes from client-agency relationships where there’s a shared sense of purpose, trust and courageousness," he said.
Creasey said it’s been fun seeing people’s reactions.
"No one likes a parking fine. It’s such a waste. But to see their frowns turn upside down when they realise they’re getting free cash instead, was both hilarious and heartwarming," said Creasey.
"I felt like a purple Father Christmas. Stop walking away from free money people! Say YAY to cashback with Cashrewards this Black Friday instead!”
In November 2022, Cashrewards proved that ‘free cash wasn’t too good to be true’, by running a social experiment, turning billboards into ‘Bills-boards’ covered in $5000 worth of $5 notes, to see if people would take the free money - see here.
That same year, Cashrewards members earned over $3.4 million in cashback over Black Friday and Cyber Weekend.
The stunt campaign comes just in time for the busy Christmas shopping period kicking off this week with Black Friday & Cyber Monday.
Even more money is expected to be given back this year with retailers offering up to 30% cashback on top of sales and discounts. Aussies can shop top brands like Apple, BWS, Petbarn, Big W, H&M, Glue Store, Booking.com and more, with boosted cashback.
Credits:
Client: Cashrewards
Creative, production, social and PR: Poem
Production crew: August Media & Soho Creative
Photography: Ben Sanford Media
