Who's Been Leaving $100 Bills for Complete Strangers at Oregon Grocery Stores? Turns Out It's a Publicity Stunt…but With a Good Message

Lucky shoppers in the Salem, Ore., area were shocked when $100 bills started showing up tucked into random, everyday grocery items.

Screen grab via Yahoo!

But instead of being the work of a “money fairy,” as one television station termed it, it turns out it was the work of a Portland radio station.

KUPL 98.7 The Bull revealed this week that it was behind the mysterious appearance of $100 bills cropping up around Oregon and Southwest Washington, Yahoo! Shine reported.

“We are everywhere and encouraging others to pay it forward and do the same," the station's music director told Yahoo!, though declined to specify which stores they chose as part of their covert operation.

At least 12 shoppers over the past week have been on the receiving end of the “pay it forward” promotion, finding $100 bills hidden inside egg cartons, ice cream containers, cookie boxes and other grocery items.

“We can confirm that there have been 12 different customers who have found $100 bills in our store. Upon finding the money, they’ve all alerted a store clerk and have been allowed to keep the money,” Melinda Merrill, the director of publicity for Kroger, told Yahoo!. “It’s a wonderful thing.”

Shopper Jennifer Smith-Poelz was thrilled to find a $100 bill hidden in an ice cream container she purchased.

“I just think this is the coolest thing ever,” she told a local news station. “Whoever is doing this has brightened so many people's days. I wish I had ample amounts of cash to be able to surprise people like this. I mean, it's fabulous.”

Another customer hit the jackpot twice after he picked up a box of cookies at Walmart.

“I opened it up and a $100 bill fell out, just like that,” said the customer, who identified himself as Phil. He continued searching the aisle and found another $100 hidden among the boxes.

“There were three boxes left, and l turned them over and lo and behold, there was another $100 bill,” he said, adding that the timing was perfect because he had been spending a lot of money on gas to visit his girlfriend, who is suffering from renal failure.

The station said it plans on continuing the promotion for at least five more weeks.

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Featured image Getty Images.

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