• by Tanya Gazdik , May 12, 2010

Canadian Club is reviving a marketing campaign it first conducted more than 40 years ago called "Hide a case" in which people search for cases of whiskey hidden in exotic locations.

Canadian Club marketing officials declined to talk to Marketing Daily about the initiative, since the campaign will not be formally announced until May 17, according to a Canadian Club spokesperson.

A microsite and Facebook page for the initiative are already active, however, and consumers can enter a contest to be one of the eight chosen to join an expedition to hunt for one of the missing cases. The site includes nearly two dozen print ads that ran in decades past to promote the contest. The Canadian Club spokesperson declined to provide details of what ad support the upcoming contest will receive.

In the original campaign, a total of 25 cases were hidden globally in 1967 and nine remain undiscovered. One was hidden in the Galapagos Islands in 1972; the ad promoting that location never ran.

In 1976, the campaign was reactivated with "adventure in the U.S." as the main theme and six more cases were hidden, including one in Lake Placid, N.Y. A few years later, another two cases were hidden, including a Christmas special hidden in the North Pole that has yet to be found. "The ads were never published and so far no one has tried to find them, until now. 2010 commences the hunt for the first of these 3 cases; it could be you that finds it," according to the Canadian Club microsite, www.hideacase.com.

"Cases hidden on top of mountains, planted on exotic islands and buried in the sea caught the attention of adventurous souls far and wide and many of our treasure cases were eventually discovered. However, even with the help of clues revealed in a series of print ads, not all the hidden cases were found," according to the microsite.

The new campaign begins May 17 with a skills contest. Entrants must complete six tasks that will "test your creativity, brain power and speed. Each task will earn you 10 points -- you will only get one chance to attempt each game so make sure when you click the start button you are ready to play," according to the site. Each successfully completed task will be rewarded with a clue that will lead contestants closer to the mystery location. Contestants with at least 50 points will advance to round two, which begins July 9.

In that round, contestants will be asked to upload a video explaining why they think they should go on the hunt. Judges will select the top 30 videos, which will be put to a public vote. The judges' score and the public vote will be combined to select the finalists. The top four Americans and top four Canadians will be invited to join the hunt for the lost case.

The quest will take place during round three, from April 7-14, 2011. Canadian Club calls it "the adventure of a lifetime, exploring exotic locations, trekking through uninhabited and unusual lands, racing the clock to solve the clues and find the elusive case." California law prohibits contests and sweepstakes of this nature, so it is void there.

Each of the eight finalists will receive $12,500, and $100,000 will be awarded to the grand prize winner. During the first round of the contest, 100 randomly selected entrants will win prizes ranging from digital watches to hydration backpacks.