Coinstar & Grenadier Launch New Spots for The Gift that Keeps on Giving

A giftcard has become a ubiquitous, all-purpose present; but often the gift-ee doesn’t really love the specific gift card they get. Outerwall, the company that markets Redbox movie kiosks and Coinstar's coin-cashing kiosks, has the perfect solution with its Coinstar Exchange kiosks, which allow you to sell  gift cards for cold, hard cash instantly.

In its new digital/online campaign created by Boulder, Colorado advertising agency Grenadier, Coinstar Exchange shows how anyone can instantly turn an unwanted giftcard into their true passion in a trio of lively 30-second commercials.

In one spot, operatic music plays in a darkly lit restaurant as a schlubby guy is about to become one with a mountain of spicy Buffalo wings. “These wings used to be a gift card to a bath and bedroom store,” a voice informs viewers as the scene switches to an overly illuminated retail environment stacked sky high with identical white towels. “You wanted extra cash for atomic, apocalyptic wings and you wanted it right now.” Happily, the food orgy soon resumes after the man is shown converting his plastic to paper money.

Other executions feature a woman trading hobby store credit she probably won’t ever use for “something that really pumps her up” (a gym membership) and a vegetarian swapping steak for an axe (a new electric guitar). Each ad closes with a link to the Coinstar website and the tagline, “Coinstar Exchange. Cash Out.”

“We’ve enjoyed working on Coinstar Exchange since the brand launched in 2014. It turns out there are lots of ways to exchange gift cards for cash; but the fact remains - no one allows you to do that as safely, instantly and conveniently as Coinstar Exchange does.” Said Grenadier Partner, Managing Director Jeff Graham 

Earlier this year, Coinstar and Grenadier hit the streets to film ads that show just how much loose change Americans tuck away in jars, junk drawers and couch cushions ($56 on average). In a game show-type experience, people were offered the choice of a crisp $50 bill or a jar full of coins that could be run through Coinstar’s green kiosk. While most subjects assumed the sum of the nickels and pennies was piddly, it actually surpassed the value of the paper currency.