The Case of the Missing Coin

Launching the Cluedo 50p for The Royal Mint and Hasbro · The Chesterfield Mayfair

Client: The Royal Mint × Hasbro · Agency: Third City · Created and performed by Genome Theatre

The brief

Launch the Cluedo 50p to around 30 press and influencers in a way they would actually remember.

So rather than presenting the coin, we built an original Cluedo story around it. Guests didn't hear about the launch. They lived it.

The invitation said birthday party.

Guests stepped into the library of The Chesterfield Mayfair: wood panelling, lamplight, old portraits watching from the walls. Champagne was being poured. Miss Scarlett was celebrating, and everyone who mattered had come.

Among Scarlett's gifts was something rare: the brand-new Cluedo 50p, struck by The Royal Mint to mark 100 years since the first crime in Cluedo's story. It was locked away for safekeeping.

Then the safe was opened. The coin was gone.

Five suspects. Which one did it?

Who, where and with what?

Mrs Peacock, Scarlett's mother, held court in peacock blue. Colonel Mustard told a story no one had asked for. Professor Plum seemed unusually interested in the safe. Reverend Green had known the family forever. And Mrs White, celebrity chef and Scarlett's oldest friend, had baked the birthday cake herself.

For the next 45 minutes the room became the board. The Detective arrived, notebook in hand, and the questions began. Who had the code? Who left the room, and when? Why did Mustard look so relieved? Guests found themselves questioning the suspects, comparing theories, and being questioned in turn.

No one was told to play.

The story moved around whoever was standing nearest: some guests chased every clue, others simply watched it unfold over a glass of something. Each of them saw a slightly different evening, and that was the point.

The answer had been in plain sight all along. When the birthday cake was cut, there it was: the coin, baked inside for luck.

It was Mrs Peacock, in the library, with the birthday cake.

With a little help from a culinary expert.

A mother who didn't trust anyone else to keep her daughter's gift safe, and a friend who never asked why.

Every guest went home with a newspaper printed in the world of the story. On the night it was a clue, and afterwards it was a keepsake.

What happened next

The world held so well that podcaster Hannah, of Talk of the Townsends, spent part of the evening chatting to members of the cast without realising they were in character. She told the story on the show, which was #13 in Spotify's UK TV & Film charts that week.

The world in numbers

Six characters · One missing coin · A cake with a secret

Around 30 press and influencers · 45 minutes

Ellie Leach played Miss Scarlett, a role she has also played on stage.

"I love immersive experiences and the Cluedo evening with The Royal Mint was no exception. The guests at Miss Scarlett's party were made to feel very much part of the unfolding story – which made the event so much more fun!"

— Diane Carson
"We worked with Genome to create an immersive mystery event for a product launch. Avgi and the team were incredibly helpful, creative, and thorough, ensuring we had the perfect experience and the event was a huge success. I'd highly recommend working with Genome for PR events."

— Izzy Shipley, Third City