Venmo — Santa On Venmo

Santa just discovered gift cards on Venmo. So to maximize his gift giving potential, he invited the public to Venmo request him what they want for the holidays, for a chance to get a gift card. 🎁

The campaign was supposed to unfold differently, but after just one teaser, the internet did it’s thing... annnnd there was so much Christmas spirit, it broke the Venmo app. Oopsie!!!  
 


It started with TikTok’s most beloved Santa
doing a little storytime about
how he discovered Venmo.

Then Santa sent a Snapchat to over 
300,000 people hard-launching 
his new Venmo account.

 



Less than 24 hours later, Santa received over 100k gift requests.



An actual screen recording of our brand manager’s phone


So many requests that it literally CRASHED Vennmo’s request button. 🤯 🤯 🤯 





.....And without a working “request” button, people began paying the account instead. 


 



Reddit threads and TikToks were made, with influencers spinning theories, fueling the momentum.





His Venmo transaction feed was so popular it turned into a live Twitter feed.




So Santa quickly put out a memo, pausing the giveaway while Venmo worked on the app. 😅






Thankfully everyone responded with holiday cheer as they awaited more info. 





Unfortunately Venmo’s elves couldn’t fix the Request button in time, so we quickly refunded 
everyone’s payments and put together a new giveaway in real time. 





Sooo yeah. We broke the internet. And the client’s product. Holiday wish granted. ✅



Made with:

Tessa Memmott (AD), Shiran Teitelbaum (CD), Lauren Smith (ECD)