Imagine the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… but with SHOES. Yep, that’s right: Golden Shoes.

The idea is the brainchild of some of the town leaders of Barre, Vermont. In order to foster traffic and commerce in their local businesses, they came up with a scavenger hunt of sorts that involves gold-colored shoes hidden in various stores around the area.

Whenever someone finds a pair of the golden shoes, they just read the tag on it and notify the officials and they’ll receive a free pair of sneakers. The contest is being held the entire month of May, with about two shoes being hidden in retail stores per day. That’s nearly 70 pairs of free shoes. It’s a pretty fun idea that doesn’t break the bank for them… and supposedly you don’t have to even live in the town to win. Not that I’m anywhere near Vermont…

Source: WCAX.com, Kristin Carlson