The competition started in October 2008 when beer drinkers were asked to SMS the code found underneath the crown of Hansa Marzen Gold 750ml or 340ml bottles to a pre-determined number. For 13 weeks, randomly selected SMS entrants where called by local radio DJ's and put through a radio challenge. To qualify to the next round, the DJ would say "1 Marzen" to which the caller must immediately respond "1 Million". Nearly 400 people where called and successfully made it to the semi-final events.
The next stage of the competition took place during the last week of January 2009, when functions were held for the lucky semi-finalists, at five different cities across the country. From these events, 11 finalists were selected and flown to Johannesburg for an all expenses paid weekend trip to the City of Gold to compete for the million rand prize. Although only one winner was declared, all the finalists were wined and dined at the exclusive Back of the Moon, where they partied the night away in celebration of South Africa's newest millionaire.
During the final event, the 11 contestants were placed around a Gold Panning pool filled with Hanza Marzen Gold gold nuggets. Each contestant was equipped with a panning pan and given five minutes to search, pan and collect as many gold nuggets as possible. The judges weighed each finalist's nuggets and the one who collected the most Marzen Gold nuggets was declared the winner.
Mncedisi Jekwa, Hansa assistant brand manager: said the competition was a well received success with over 110,000 SMS entries collected. "The competition exceeded our expectations and really got our customers excited about the brand. This was further confirmed by the enthusiasm displayed by our finalists during today's event."
