20 Minuten and Thomy launch interactive mystery game to mark the mayonnaise anniversary

A fictional criminal case captivates Switzerland: to celebrate its 75th anniversary, 20 Minuten is launching a cross-media untrue crime series together with Thomy. The commercial publishing format combines journalistic storytelling with gamification and culminates in an action-packed real-life finale.

Over the course of several weeks, the fictional crime story unfolds with a wink on the digital channels of 20 Minuten. The starting point is the mysterious disappearance of the iconic Thomy recipe during an anniversary tour of the Basel factory. An anonymous message appears on the screens - and the community becomes part of the investigation. There is prize money of up to CHF 10,000 for decisive clues.

Creator duo leads through the investigation

The well-known 20-minute creators Jan Löning for German-speaking Switzerland and Mélanie Roulin for French-speaking Switzerland will guide you through all the chapters. As a reporting duo, they actively involve the community: The participants analyze clues, pursue suspects, submit their own alibis and qualify for the grand finale with their criminalistic flair.

The case culminates in an event that transfers the story from the digital space into the real world. The campaign proves the potential of branded content formats with creative storytelling and shows how brands can tell anniversaries today: not retrospectively, but experience-oriented, playful and with clear relevance for the community.

In-house production of commercial publishing

The entire format was conceived, developed and produced entirely in-house by Commercial Publishing, the content unit of 20 Minuten. Text, photos, video, design and social formats were created and implemented in an integrated manner. In addition to the storytelling, the campaign was flanked by tailor-made digital advertising material.