While the rest of the world uses their smartphones to capture virtual cartoon sprites, one man used social media to finalize an extremely real-world purchase: his new car.
Twitter user Raul Escolano (@escolano) tweeted #compraruncocheportwitter (translating to “buy a car on Twitter”) near the end of March, challenging car dealerships across his home country of Spain to sell him a car using the platform.
After a few weeks, Nissan dealer Antamotor responded to Escolano’s request. The dealership even gave Escolano a virtual tour of the Nissan X-Trail via Periscope.
Escolano asked his followers to vote for which competitive car model he should choose in a Twitter poll. After 2.6 million impressions and a 43 percent vote for the X-Trail, he approved and purchased the vehicle.
A courier delivered the keys to Escolano’s home before he eventually picked up the vehicle from Nissan’s Spanish headquarters. The entire sale took two months.
While cars can certainly be purchased online, Nissan claims this is the first-ever complete automobile sale over social media in Europe.