The Great Crab Hunt
Open the game- Brand
- Old Bay
- Year
- 2021
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Neo-Pangea
Objective
After a year of pandemic isolation, Old Bay wanted to get Baltimoreans back out into the city and send real foot traffic to the local restaurants, museums, and shops that needed it most. As a proudly homegrown Baltimore brand, Old Bay framed the hunt as a way to champion the city itself, while also building its sweepstakes list and social buzz around the hashtag #CaptureTheCrab.
Solution
Old Bay teased two new clues a week on its Twitter account, each pointing to a specific spot around Baltimore — a zoo, a museum, a fish house, even the harbor's trash-collecting wheel, Mr. Trash Wheel. Players had to puzzle out the location, head there in person, and find a QR code posted at the entrance. Scanning it with a phone camera, no app required, dropped a crab into the scene dressed up to match that venue. Three taps with a virtual Old Bay mallet caught the crab, which players could then share on social media; every catch also entered them into that week's prize drawing, topped by an Old Bay-branded electric scooter and helmet. With more than ten crabs scattered across the city, the hunt stretched over several weeks, and a home version at oldbaycrabhunt.com let anyone play without leaving the house.
- 1
Players track the brand's Twitter account, which posts a riddle-style clue about a Baltimore location twice a week, described as ranging from wild to flavorful to skeletal.
- 2
Players decode the clue and travel to the real-world site it points to, one of eighteen participating museums, restaurants, hotels, and city landmarks.
- 3
At the location, players look for a campaign QR code posted outside the venue.
- 4
Scanning the code with a phone camera opens a WebAR experience directly in the mobile browser, with no app to download or install.
- 5
The camera view overlays a crab costumed to match that specific location, themed after the zoo, museum, restaurant, or landmark where it appears.
- 6
Players catch the crab by tapping it three times on screen with a virtual Old Bay mallet.
- 7
After each catch, players can share the custom crab to social media.
- 8
Each catch also counts as an entry into a weekly prize drawing, open to adult residents of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., with a no-purchase mail-in alternative.
- 9
Players repeat the clue-travel-catch cycle at a new address as each new clue appears, working toward collecting more than ten distinct costumed crabs; those who prefer not to travel can play an at-home version of the same hunt on the campaign's own website.
- 10
The campaign awards weekly prizes such as a slip 'n slide, a cooler, tote bags, and gift cards, plus a grand prize of a branded electric scooter and helmet, and later extends the same scan-and-catch mechanic to participating restaurants during Baltimore Restaurant Week.
