Banbury shoppers duped into thinking £5 notes on floor

Banbury Vintage will be selling clothes from Lock 29 in the town for three weeks and the store has decided to advertise its temporary stay through some cunning marketing.

Lock 29 is a retail park which has a diverse range of independent traders and artisans and is situated on Lock 29 of the Oxford Canal.

The £5 advertising leaflets (Image: Harry Bushrod)

Members of the public have fallen for some clever marketing after they picked up £5 notes believing they were genuine when instead they were advertising leaflets.

Jack Elliot, a shopper, said: “I was definitely very convinced by the £5 note.

“I originally picked it up and looked around to see if someone had actually dropped it but I didn’t see anyone so just put it in my pocket before driving home.”

However, Mr Elliot later found out that he had not been so lucky and the £5 was instead a fake.

He explained: “It wasn’t until I got home and unravelled it that I realised it wasn’t the £5 note I thought it was.”

Mr Elliott said he was “pretty impressed” by the marketing and also saw college pupils falling for the advertising.

He added: “Funnily enough I did see some college kids pick one up.

"I assume they thought it was a £5 note too as they were all laughing and giggling after putting it in their pocket.”

Harry Bushrod holding £5 leaflets (Image: Harry Bushrod)

Writing on Facebook, Mr Elliott said he would be checking out the store at the weekend and he highlighted that Banbury needs “affordable and alternative clothing”.

On the back of the £5 flyers, it is said that shoppers can get £5 off at the store.

Harry Bushrod, owner of Banbury Vintage, said he designed the flyers himself and “started dropping them around the town in shops, colleges and around Lock 29 where my new vintage clothing business will be operating”.

He added: “It’s been pretty funny watching people find out what they think are £5 notes, putting them in their pocket and going about their day”.

Mr Bushrod told the Oxford Mail that he had worked in fashion and the streetwear industry for a number of years and “decided the town of Banbury needed something new and exciting”.

The idea of using fake £5 notes for marketing originates from when Mr Bushrod picked up a real £5 note on a rainy Tuesday morning.

He said that “something clicked in my head that this could intertwine into a marketing campaign for my business”.

Mr Bushrod says that his Instagram ‘banburyvintage’ has seen a surge in followers since he first started dropping the flyers out and about.

Banbury Vintage will be open over the next three weekends, including May 13 and May 14, May 20 and May 21, and May 27 till May 29.