Currys built billboards full of broken tech that passers-by could grab for cash

UK tech retailer Currys was launching Cash for Trash — a minimum £5 payout for any old, broken or unused technology brought into store — as part of its inflation-busting offers, and wanted to raise awareness of tech recycling in cities with the highest e-waste levels.

Make the billboard the stash of hidden money: fill it with old and broken tech passers-by can grab and swap in store for at least £5.

Interactive special-build billboards by AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry in London, Leeds and Manchester, laden with old and broken devices; reactions were filmed as people picked up items like a broken toaster or old mobile and discovered what it was worth, with footage shared on social with permission, supported by radio, social and digital.

No campaign results were published. Currys says it recycles 65,000 tonnes of tech a year and has saved 800,000 tonnes from landfill since 2007, and claims this was the first time a billboard was used to recycle old tech.

In August 2022, UK tech retailer Currys launched Cash for Trash — paying a minimum of £5 for any old, broken or unused technology brought into store — with a disruptive outdoor campaign by AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry. Interactive special-build billboards appeared in London, Leeds and Manchester, physically full of old and broken tech that passers-by could grab on the way past.

The stunt worked as a live demonstration of the offer: hidden cameras filmed reactions as people picked up items like a broken toaster or an old mobile and discovered how much it was worth, with footage shared on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter with permission. 'We wanted to create an element to the campaign that would be properly disruptive and genuinely helpful,' said AMV BBDO creative directors Jeremy Tribe and David Westland. Rebecca Dorfman, managing partner at Spark Foundry, called it the first time a billboard had been used to recycle old tech.

The context made the message land: Currys is the UK's largest tech recycler, recycling 65,000 tonnes of tech every year and saving 800,000 tonnes from landfill since 2007, and the push targeted some of the cities with the highest e-waste levels in the country amid rising inflation. 'We know that despite rising inflation, people still have items hoarded at home they could exchange for monetary incentives,' said Corin Mills, Currys' head of brand, comms and planning.

Trade-in value is abstract until you hold it: the billboards turned a £5 promise into something passers-by physically took home.

Filmed reactions gave the OOH stunt a social media afterlife on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.

The cost-of-living crisis made cash-for-clutter instantly relevant in the cities with the UK's highest e-waste levels.

The stunt reframed a retail promotion as an e-waste message, putting recycling on the public agenda.

Demonstrate an offer instead of describing it: a poster full of other people's discarded tech makes the value hiding in your drawer instantly tangible.

Cash for Trash launched as part of Currys' inflation-busting line-up alongside Price Lock and a 12-Month Pay Delay, all supported by AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry across OOH, radio, social and digital. No campaign performance figures were published.