The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2022
Pony Malta hacks Free Fire's ruined buildings into donation drops — 8 schools rebuilt
Free Fire players dropped unspent coins into buildings that resemble Colombia's crumbling schools; Pony Malta turned 430K+ coins into real repairs.
Pony Malta
What it had to solve
Pony Malta, the malt drink most consumed in Colombian schools, wanted to act on education. Many school buildings were destroyed or deteriorated after years of low investment, and the young audience the brand needed lived inside Free Fire, a battle royale game full of ruined buildings.
How it works
In March–April 2022, Pony Malta, the malt beverage most consumed in Colombian schools, launched 'Donation Squad' to act on a grim observation: many of the country's school buildings were destroyed or deteriorated from years of underinvestment. The audience the brand wanted to reach was young, and it lived inside Free Fire, one of the most popular mobile battle royale games in the country — a game whose war-torn buildings look eerily like the ruined schools in real life.
The team — Digitas Colombia and Publicis Play — decided to use that resemblance. Without changing a line of game code, they hacked the Battle Royale mode into a donation point: five in-game buildings were selected because they looked like the Francisco José de Caldas school in Bogotá, one of the most needy in the capital. Four famous gamers challenged their followers, in live streams, to find coins during matches and drop them inside those buildings instead of spending them.
A 'Donation Squad' gathered the coins over more than 36 hours of gameplay, with over 2,500 gamers taking part. Pony Malta converted the more than 430,000 virtual coins into real money that renovated eight schools across Latin America — 40 classrooms renewed, more than 400 desks donated, 20 buildings restored, 10 workshops and five basketball courts — while the campaign reached 6 million impressions.
Why it lands
- The game already contained the problem: ruined buildings that look like real schools, so the activation needed no new worlds and no code.
- Players were asked to change one in-game habit — drop coins instead of spend them — a mechanic every gamer already knew.
- Influencer live streams made donating a shared, public event rather than a private act.
- A brand that lives in schools turned the game its students play into an extension of the same mission.
What it did
More than 430,000 in-game coins from 2,500+ gamers funded the renovation of eight schools across Latin America — 40 classrooms, 400+ desks, 20 buildings restored, 10 workshops and five basketball courts — generating 6 million impressions.
What you can take
Don't interrupt your audience's world — borrow its mechanics: when a game's landscape already mirrors a real problem, turning gameplay into donation beats any banner, free of paid placement.
Since then
The Francisco José de Caldas school received renovated labs, classrooms and workshops, and Pony Malta turned the mechanic into a reusable donation platform later applied to rebuilding schools in Mexico, Peru and Brazil. The campaign became a frequently cited example of purpose-driven gaming, with coverage across Latin American marketing press.
Sources
- DONATION SQUAD
- Hay caso: Digitas, Publicis Colombia y Pony Malta hicieron un hackeo para un buen fin
- Detrás de Donation Squad, la campaña de Pony Malta, Publicis Groupe, Publicis Play y Digitas
- Pony Malta: Donation Squad
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