Todd Sanders holding a $25,000 check for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at the Tweet Race finish line
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Tweet Race

Out of nearly 2,000 applicants, Todd Sanders and co-driver John Pedersen were selected to drive a tweet-fueled Mercedes-Benz 1,500 miles from Los Angeles to Dallas. They beat Serena Williams in the process and raised $50K for St. Jude.

The setup

Mercedes-Benz had never run a Super Bowl ad. They also had never had a presence on Twitter. To mark their first foray into social media they dreamed up the world's first Twitter-fueled race: four teams, from four cities, all headed to the Super Bowl, powered only by tweets.

Out of 1,949 applicants, four two-person driving teams were chosen based on social media prowess, personality, and "other intangibles." Todd Sanders and his co-driver John Pedersen, a friend he'd met on Twitter, were selected as Team S. Their vehicle: a 2011 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid. Their starting point: Los Angeles. Their celebrity coach: Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.

The Team S Mercedes S400 Hybrid wrapped with Tweet Race branding, parked in front of a rocket in the desert

How it worked

Every four tweets from supporters using the team's hashtag moved the car one mile. The team with the most points at the finish line (earned through tweet volume plus a series of social media challenges along the route) won a pair of brand-new 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupes. Their charity would also receive a donation based on their finish.

The nine challenges pushed the teams to generate creative content in real time: marshalling fans at specific locations, filming a 60-second commercial for the S-Class they were driving, acting out pages from their owner's manual, and staging their vehicle in a fashion shoot, all documented and shared live on Twitter.

Mercedes Tweet Race microsite map showing Team S's position and live tweet feed during the race Tweet Race scoreboard showing Team S in 1st place with 33,840 total points

The win

Team S led the race from start to finish. Over three days and 1,500 miles, they generated 43,000 tweets and accumulated 131,643 total points — nearly double their nearest competitor. They crossed the finish line in Dallas in first place, beating out three other teams including the team coached by 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

All Tweet Race teams and coaches at the finish line celebration in Dallas

Final standings

1st
Team S — Todd Sanders & John Pedersen · Coach: Pete Wentz · Charity: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
131,643 pts
2nd
Team CL — Layla Kayleigh & Julissa Bermudez · Coach: Rev Run · Charity: Lower Eastside Service Center
75,092 pts
3rd
Team GL — Jennifer Marshall & Meredith Sinclair · Coach: Serena Williams · Charity: Serena Williams Foundation
45,944 pts
4th
Team E — Len Kendall & John Morrison · Coach: Nick Swisher · Charity: Swish's Wishes
39,763 pts

Post Race Report

A look back at the race to the Super Bowl.

Campaign impact

545M Twitter impressions
$120K total raised for charity
77K new Twitter followers for MB (from zero)
2M video views (#2 Ad Age viral chart)

The entry video

Before there was a race, there was an audition. This is the video that got me in.

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