Currys gives £5 to anyone interacting with its billboards... while stocks last

You expect a billboard campaign for a tech retailer to be full of the latest shiny, sleek and gleaming gadgets. But in a campaign created in partnership with AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry, Currys is doing the exact opposite.

Written By: Tom May

8 August 2022

Currys' Cash for Trash billboard displaying the campaign name in white lettering on red and blue background, mounted above a colourful geometric floor installation in front of a Victorian red brick building.

Special billboards in London, Leeds and Manchester have been laden with old and broken tech devices to promote Currys' Cash for Trash scheme. And passers-by can grab these items, remove them, hand them into a store, and get money back in return.

The campaign aims to promote Currys' Cash for Trash scheme, which gives people a minimum of £5 for any old, broken or unused technology they bring into the store.

It's a smart move. At a time when everyone is worried about the rise of inflation and corresponding hit to their living standards, a campaign focusing on expensive high-end tech would run the risk of looking tone deaf.

By both giving money away and focusing on the importance of recycling, the Cash for Trash campaign, in contrast, hits all the right notes.

A person walks across a rainbow-coloured floor towards a red billboard reading "Cash for Trash" positioned in front of Victorian red-brick buildings in an urban plaza

Woman in white jacket removing broken tech from a red billboard for Currys' Cash for Trash scheme, which offers £5 for old electronics

Currys is also hoping there'll be viral potential here, too. People's reactions will be filmed as they liberate items such as a broken toaster or an old mobile from the billboard, then discover how much it's worth. Okay, we're not going to be talking Antiques Roadshow figures here, but free money is still free.

Then, if they give permission, the footage will be shared on social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.

There's also some solid thinking behind the campaign that shows Currys is serious about the environment. It already claims to be the UK's largest tech recycler, recycling 65,000 tonnes of tech every single year, which it says saves 800,000 tonnes of tech from going to landfill since 2007. The new campaign suggests it wants to boost that further in a world where many people leave old tech languishing in the loft, or worse still, just throw it out.

Hand reaching to remove a broken toaster from a Currys Cash for Trash billboard display featuring old tech devices and a £5 offer sign

Red and blue Currys Cash for Trash billboard laden with old electronic devices, positioned in front of a Victorian red-brick building with coloured ground markings below

AMV BBDO creative directors Jeremy Tribe and David Westland said: "We wanted to create an element to the campaign that would be properly disruptive and genuinely helpful. These specially built billboards showcase Currys' Cash for Trash offer in a fun, engaging way, but they also draw attention to Currys' extensive recycling capability and put e-waste on the public agenda."

Rebecca Dorfman, the managing partner at Spark Foundry, added: "The campaign's focus on OOH, coupled with social and radio, will be key to reaching the nation quickly and in areas where we know consumers will be feeling the pinch. It is the first time a billboard has been used to recycle old tech, demonstrating the value of OOH in bringing to life the powerful proposition that is 'Cash for Trash'."