Last week, we wrote about the ‘Black Sails’ treasure hunt – an event where Starz released clues about two treasure chests (one in New York and one in Los Angeles) throughout the day on January 10. Each treasure chest contained gold coins redeemable for a $5,000 cash prize.
Based on the video below, the event looked like an amazing success; based on the stats, it was. The hunt resulted in an over 400% increase in Twitter activity for Black Sails compared to average Saturday performance, and generated over 5.8 million impressions around the hunt’s official hashtag, #TakeWhatsYours.
As for the hunt itself, ‘Black Sails’ fans (and treasure-hunt fans?) were ready to go. The first person in New York to arrive to get a key came 50 minutes after the first clue was tweeted (and 10 minutes before the last clue); the first person in Los Angeles to arrive to get a key came 45 minutes after the first clue was tweeted.
Winners Crystal Trifeletti and Justin Snyder found the treasure chest at Tower 16 (near Santa Monica pier) and Trinity Bar and Restaurant in Los Angeles and New York, respectively. Now $5,000 richer, if they were considering ever cutting cords, this should keep them Starz subscribers and ‘Black Sails’ fans a lot longer.
The treasure hunt is just one way Starz is gearing up for Season 2 of ‘Black Sails’ (premiering January 24 at 9pm EST) on social. On January 20 there is a ‘Flock to Unlock’ event, in which fans tweet to @BlkSails_Starz with the hashtag #TakeWhatsYours – if enough people tweet, they will unlock the first scene of Season 2.