Specimen $100 bills
Flip the bill — Ben's face becomes your offer. Marked SPECIMEN on reverse per Treasury rules.
Drop Marketing · Guerrilla
Brand drops people can't help but pick up.
Fake-find marketing: a lost wallet on the bar, a $100 bill on the sidewalk, a parking ticket under the wiper. The pickup is the hook. The open is the brand reveal. Every prop is QR- or NFC-tracked so we know exactly who picked up what, where, and what they did next.
- Fake-find props
- High-attention drops
- QR-tracked pickups
At a glance
Why does fake-find marketing work?
It hijacks the brain's curiosity gap. A "lost" $100 bill or a parking ticket triggers a pattern-interrupt that flyers can't — people stop, pick up, and flip it over. Completion bias makes them open the reveal. Our average pickup rate runs 38–62% vs 1–3% for standard flyers, and QR conversions average 18%.
The short version
TL;DR — what is fake-find marketing?
Fake-find drop marketing is a guerrilla tactic where branded props — fake wallets, mock parking tickets, specimen $100 bills, lookalike lost keys — are dropped in high-traffic public zones. Strangers can't resist picking them up. Flipping them reveals the brand and a QR/NFC link to a tracked offer.
- Up to 40× pickup rate vs a flyer handed out on the same corner (38–62% vs 1–3%).
- ~18% QR-scan-to-landing conversion — roughly 10× display-ad CTR in matched demos.
- $0.85 average cost-per-engaged-visitor at Campaign tier — well below paid social.
- 22+ prop types available, from fake checks to lost-cat flyers to mock fortune slips.
- Every prop is legal: currency-style pieces marked SPECIMEN / NOT LEGAL TENDER per US Treasury §504.
50K+
Drops shipped
22
Prop types
GPS
Drop-zone planning
QR + NFC
Tracked pickups
The Prop Library · 10 Best Sellers
What we drop.
Each prop is designed for one moment: the involuntary "ooh — what's that?" pickup. Then the flip. Then the brand. Every piece is QR- or NFC-tagged so the route from pickup to conversion is fully measurable.
Mock parking tickets
Slipped under the wiper. Relief replaces panic at the punchline — and a QR to your offer.
Lost-wallet props
A bifold wallet on the café counter. Open it — instead of an ID, a brand story and a "free X" coupon.
Lookalike credit cards
Embossed plastic, real heft. Flip for the QR — every card a unique scan ID for full attribution.
"Lost keys" NFC tags
A keychain with an NFC tag. "Found these? Tap to help" — they tap and land on your story.
First-class boarding passes
Looks rare. Reads like a Hollywood prop. Destination: your storefront URL. Used at gyms, lounges, gates.
Always-wins scratch-offs
Every card wins something — a discount, a sample, a free trial. The dopamine is real; the deal is yours.
"Missed delivery" slips
URGENT — package waiting. Scan to claim. The "package" is your free trial, swatch kit, or invite.
VIP "left behind" cards
A heavyweight, gold-foiled card "forgotten" on the bar. People read other people's cards. Guaranteed pickup.
"Pay to: the finder" checks
Personal check, name line blank, payable to the finder. Endorse it — claim a real (smaller) offer.
The Drop Playbook
Four steps. Zero guesswork.
A drop campaign isn't a flyer run with extra steps. Every piece is designed, printed, dropped, and measured under one roof.
STEP 01
Concept
We match your audience and offer to 1–3 prop types. Hospitality, fitness, real estate, retail — each gets a different prop mix.
STEP 02
Prop design + print
Our team builds the prop, the reveal copy, and the QR-landing flow. Production handled in-house — no third-party print broker.
STEP 03
Drop zones planned
We map drop zones by foot-traffic data, daypart, and demo overlap. Every zone GPS-tagged and approved before drop day.
STEP 04
Track pickups
Each prop carries a unique QR or NFC ID. You see pickups, scans, conversions, and CAC in a live dashboard within 24 hours.
Legal & ethical guardrails. All currency-style and document-style props are clearly marked SPECIMEN / NOT LEGAL TENDER / FOR PROMOTIONAL USE in compliance with US Treasury Department §504 (Title 18 USC) and FTC guidelines. We never produce counterfeit currency, fraudulent tickets from real agencies, or anything intended to deceive about a real legal obligation. Every piece carries a visible brand reveal — the trick is the curiosity gap, not fraud.
Three tiers
Pilot it. Scale it. Saturate it.
Every tier includes prop design, print, drop logistics, and pickup-tracking. Pricing scales with units and zone count.
Pilot
$1,499flat
Validate the concept on a small footprint before committing budget.
- 1 prop type
- 250 units printed & dropped
- 1 drop zone (GPS-verified)
- Single shared QR landing page
- Pickup report in 14 days
Most Popular
Campaign
$4,499flat
A real launch. Multi-prop mix, multi-zone, full attribution.
- 3 prop types
- 1,500 units printed & dropped
- 5 drop zones (GPS-verified)
- Unique QR per prop · live dashboard
- UTM-tagged landing pages
- Drop verification photos in 4 hours
Saturation
$9,999+
Multi-city, custom props, NFC-equipped pieces, full attribution dashboard.
- Multi-city, multi-wave drops
- Custom props from scratch
- NFC-tagged premium pieces
- Dedicated drop strategist
- Full attribution + CAC dashboard
- Quarterly creative refresh
Drop zones · 12 placements we've tested
Where the props land.
Drop-zone pick is half the campaign. We've ranked every placement type by pickup rate, demo match, and scan-to-conversion in our own data.
Cafés
Office lobbies
Restaurant restrooms
Bus stops
Gym lockers
Co-working spaces
Bookstores
Bar tables
Parking lots
Subway platforms
Hotel lobbies
Concert venues
Measurement
Tracking & attribution.
Every prop is a measurable channel. Here's the funnel from pickup to paying customer.
| Signal | What it measures | Avg benchmark | Reported to you |
|---|---|---|---|
| QR scans | Pickup-to-engaged-visit conversion | 18% | Live dashboard |
| NFC taps | Premium-prop engagement (keychain, smart card) | 31% | Live dashboard |
| Landing-page conv. | Scanner-to-lead / scanner-to-purchase | 9.4% | UTM-tagged GA4 |
| Channel attribution | Multi-touch — first-touch + last-touch credit | $0.85 CPV | Weekly summary email |
Apples to apples
Fake-find drops vs everything else.
A blunt look at how guerrilla drops compare to the three channels they most often replace.
| Metric | Inkgility Fake-Find Drops | Door-hanger flyers | Digital display ads | Billboards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickup / attention rate | 38–62% | 1–3% | 0.05% CTR | Passive view |
| Avg cost per engaged visitor | $0.85 | $4.20 | $3.60 | $12+ |
| Pickup tracked at unit level | Yes — unique QR/NFC | No | Click-only | No |
| Memorable / shareable | Photographed & reshared | Recycle-bin destiny | Banner-blind | Forgettable |
| Min. spend to launch | $1,499 Pilot | ~$0.40/door × 5K min | $50/day CPM | $3K–$30K / month |
Honest answers
Frequently asked.
Is fake-find marketing legal?
Yes — when done correctly. Every currency-style or document-style prop we produce is clearly marked SPECIMEN / NOT LEGAL TENDER / FOR PROMOTIONAL USE in compliance with US Treasury Department §504 (Title 18, USC) and FTC guidelines. We never produce counterfeit currency, fraudulent tickets from real agencies, or anything intended to deceive about a real legal obligation.
What are the ethical guardrails?
We don't produce props that mimic active law-enforcement materials, real medical prescriptions, real airline tickets, or any document tied to a third-party brand without authorization. Every piece has a visible brand reveal — no deceptive endgame. The trick is the curiosity gap, not fraud.
What response rates can we expect?
Our average pickup rate runs 38–62% across high-traffic zones (vs 1–3% for standard flyers). QR-scan-to-landing conversion averages 18%, roughly 10× the click-through of digital display ads in matched demos. Conversion to lead/purchase averages 9.4% of scanners.
What's the minimum prop order?
250 units of a single prop type for our Pilot tier ($1,499). Most clients scale to 1,500+ units across 3 prop types — Campaign tier ($4,499) — because variety lifts story-share rates significantly.
Do you design the props or can we bring our own art?
Both. Our design team builds the prop, the reveal copy, and the QR-landing flow for every campaign. Brands with internal creative can supply finished art — we'll handle print production, drop logistics, and tracking.
How do you verify the drop happened?
Every drop zone is GPS-tagged on placement, photo-documented by the drop crew, and time-stamped. You see verification in the dashboard within 4 hours of each shift.
How do you track ROI?
Each prop carries a unique QR or NFC tag tied to a tracked landing page. We report pickups (proxied by scans), landing-page conversions, channel attribution, and cost-per-acquisition against your goal. Campaign tier and above includes a live dashboard.
How do we get started?
Book a 20-minute strategy call. We'll match your audience and offer to 1–3 prop types, propose drop zones, and ship a sample prop kit before you commit. Pilots typically launch within 3 weeks.
Ready to drop?
Brand drops people actually pick up.
Start with a Pilot. We'll match your audience to 1 prop type, drop 250 units in one zone, and report pickups in 14 days. Scale from there.
