When the tiny American community of Hell, Michigan, announced that its historic town centre was for sale earlier this year, the story quickly attracted national media attention across the United States.
Few expected the news to travel more than 7,000 kilometres to northeastern Hungary. But at the headquarters of energy drink producer HELL, the coincidence proved impossible to ignore.
Rather than making a conventional bid, the company submitted what was perhaps one of the most unusual acquisition offers of the year: 666,666 cans of HELL energy drink in exchange for the property.
A playful bid worth more than the asking price
The centre of Hell, Michigan, a village of around 70 residents whose official name dates back to 1841, was placed on the market for $625,000. The property included approximately 2.8 hectares of land, two commercial buildings, the Hell General Store, a former restaurant, a miniature golf course and the town’s well-known wedding chapel.
HELL Energy responded with an offer valuing each can of its energy drink at $1, bringing the total proposal to $666,666, around $41,000 above the asking price. The company even delivered an official acquisition letter from its headquarters in Szikszó.
Lawyers warned buying Hell would be… hell
Although presented in the format of a formal acquisition proposal, the document quickly revealed its humorous intent. HELL Energy joked that its legal advisers had concluded the bureaucracy involved in purchasing “Hell” would itself be “hellish.”
The company’s accountants were reportedly no more enthusiastic. According to the letter, they argued that the business already manages a sufficiently large “HELL” in Hungary and had little appetite for taking responsibility for another one on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
The company also admitted it would struggle to outperform the leadership of the Michigan community after discovering that Hell had once appointed a cat as its honorary mayor.
To complete the joke, HELL stated that the offer would remain valid “until Hell freezes over,” which, according to the company’s calculations, was expected to happen sometime in January.
But, the drink shipment was very real
While the offer itself was intentionally impossible to accept, one part of the proposal became reality. HELL Energy shipped 165 cans of its energy drink to the Hell General Store, creating what the company described as a symbolic connection between the two communities sharing the same name.
For HELL, whose products are now available in more than 60 countries, the shipment marked another milestone. According to the company, the delivery may well represent the first HELL Energy cans ever to arrive in Hell, Michigan.
The town stayed in local hands
The property was eventually purchased for $645,000 by Adam and Evelyn Eberline, a Michigan family who pledged to preserve the character of the community and maintain the traditions that have attracted thousands of visitors over the years.
