With the economy tanking, there is no better place to put your money than gold. Even though I am not a financial advisor and I have no investments of my own and my grand plan to corner the cauliflower futures market failed miserably, trust me. Still, even in times like these, gold buyers and sellers still have to post-advertise like the rest of us. Chiggity check it:

Nashville's Cashville Gold and Silver Buyers needed a way to differentiate itself from the rising competition in the gold-buying market. Solution? A treasure hunt. The company hid a replica of a $500 gold coin somewhere in Nashville and publicized the treasure with an initial clue. Subsequent clues followed on Cashville's website, leading a growing number of treasure hunters closer to the gold. The program culminated with a final clue that made plain the location of the treasure. The release of the final clue turned into a local happening in a public park with hundreds of treasure hunters showing up, cell phones, laptops and notebooks in tow.

So what did Cashville get for its $500 investment? Its website went from 75 hits a day to 30,000 instantaneously. Massive news-cycle domination was theirs for the entire hunt and for weeks following as other human interest stories surrounding the hunt came out (e.g., two treasure hunters were looking under a bridge when they spotted a drowning man; he was about to let go of a cable connected to the bridge when they saved him). And Cashville also got a sweet tie-in: "You can go on a treasure hunt in your own house." You find gold, Cashville will buy it.

Demand for round three of the contest is high (this summer's iteration was round 2) and JKScommunications (the agency that handled the research, planning and media outreach) is already on the case. I don't want to spoil the whole shebang, but I'll give you the first clue: There's gold in them thar hills.