The phenomenon of “cash catch“, on Instagram and TikTok, is gaining popularity in Germany, attracting the attention of an ever-larger audience on social media. This trend, which involves hiding small sums of money in public places and inviting users to find them through short videos, has spread rapidly across the country over the past year.
What are Cash Catch Accounts
The mechanism is simple: account managers hide a sum between 10 and 50 euros in a public place and publish a video of the area on social networkswithout providing specific details about the exact location. Sometimes the banknote is stuck between two bricks, other times between bushes, more often it is stuck under a sticker, which is placed on a traffic light pole or on a tram shelter. Followers have to quickly guess the location based on a few seconds of video and travel there to win the money. It is a sort of modern treasure hunt that combines the thrill of discovery with the possibility of a small profit.
In Berlin, the most followed page dedicated to this activity counts beyond 47.000 followerinspired by a Dutch account with more than 200,000 followers. Similar pages are also emerging in other German cities, such as Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurtas well as in the rest of Europe.
Success and criticism
However, there is no shortage of criticism, some of a “practical” nature, others of an “ethical” nature. The first ones come from some users who accuse the organizers of not actually leaving the money in the indicated places and of publishing the videos only to grow the account. To deny these rumors and guarantee the transparency of the initiative, in the videos the winners are asked to send a photo with the sum found, subsequently shared in the stories of the page as tangible proof.
The “ethical” criticism pertains to the fact that this type of game works mainly because many people live in conditions of economic precariousness such that 10, 20 or 50 Euros make important sums. This fact, someone comments, is serious and it should push for a reorganization of society, not become the engine of a successful trend on social media.
Online games, offline games and commercial twists
The creators of these initiatives, who are mostly anonymous and very rarely give interviews, they claim they simply want to make people happyoffering them a fun experience and simple entertainment, as well as an always welcome gift. However, the long-term goal appears to be the monetization of the social media following, potentially through collaborations with shops and brands interested in advertising their products by having them “hidden” by channel managers.
Despite the criticism, the “cash catch” phenomenon continues to grow in Germany, attracting the attention of an increasingly large and varied audience. Although the sums at stake are usually modest, more often around 20 euros than 50, and the chances of success are low, many people participate in this sort of modern treasure hunt. Usually, the banknote is found in a few minutes, a maximum of a quarter of an hour. Yet, the creators claim in an interview, sometimes, even half an hour after the post, there are those who show up on the spot looking for small “fortunes”. The interest seems to lie more in the thrill of the research and the experience itself, rather than in the financial gain.
For some commentators, the videos are small puzzles, to be solved with one’s knowledge of the city, so much so that often, under the posts, people compete to guess the exact address. Sometimes these are easily recognizable places (one of the most recent was the monument to the fallen Polish anti-fascists inside Volkspark Friedrichshain), while other times you can see, for a few seconds, benches, pieces of pavement, anonymous buildings, which can be recognize instantly only if you really frequent them assiduously. In the comments, a sort of “Geoguessr” game takes place with multiple players, who often don’t even bother leaving the house to check if they were right. And perhaps this is precisely what we like: in an everyday life that has relegated “gaming” to a mostly solitary activity, which is done by remaining still, silent and hunched over the smartphone screen, there is something “exotic” in the fact of challenging each other on the field, in the open air, in a shared urban space, using the whole body to move and not just the thumb or forefinger on the screen.
What is certain is that the trend, for now, is popular and seems sustainable, since the organizers almost never fail to give away small sums. Could it be that it will soon become a valid commercial promotion tool sought after by brands? It wouldn’t be the first time that a social trend has proven fruitful both for those who invented it and for the brands that have ridden it. For now, a few lucky users have benefited.
Copy URL
URL Copied
