In October 2015 SAS started flying nonstop from Stockholm to Hong Kong. To celebrate this new flight, we decided to test people’s native skills. The machine Chop When It Drops let travelers prove how much of Hong Kong they had in themselves. To win a nonstop trip for two they just had to catch a ticket when it dropped. Without warning. With chopsticks.

Travelers like to show off their global knowledge. To exploit this manner we built a machine where a robot grip released tickets for two to Hong Kong. Travelers just had to catch one when it dropped – using only chopsticks. Chop When It Drops was placed at Arlanda Airport’s international terminal – well visited by frequent travelers. Each ticket was randomly released within one minute from the game start. Word spread quickly on social media and at the airport. Of 210 tickets dropped in one day, only three were chopped.

Not a single seat was empty on the premiere flight. The video was viewed by almost 800 000 people on Facebook – the total population in Sweden is only 9 500 000. It had 83 % positive word-of-mouth.