Does Killing the Penny Mark the End of the Greatest Marketing Hook in History?

After more than 230 years, the U.S. government is stopping penny production. Officially discontinuing production in early 2026, the U.S. Treasury has made its final order for penny blanks. The coins currently in circulation will remain legal tender, but soon these coins will leave circulation.

Big deal, right? Pennies are those annoying little copper-coated coins we find when we are digging in our vehicle’s center console, in between the sofa cushions, or staring at us from the small dish on the counter at the convenience store, begging to be used. Alas, the worth of the single penny seems to no longer be worth the 14 cents it takes to produce, nor be the recipient of the love we have for other coins such as dimes, quarters, or my personal favorite, the silver dollar.

What happens afterwards? It appears the new rule of thumb will be to simply round up or down to the nearest nickel. Hence, a receipt that is $4.93 will be rounded up to $4.95. But wait, what happens to the coveted, .99 cent hook? An often overlooked and widely accepted life fact, I will argue that the “99er” price is the greatest marketing hook ever invented. Think about how prolific this is within every industry. Whether one is purchasing food, clothing, furniture, vehicles, vacations – almost every retail price ends in 99. Whether it is $2.99 for coffee, $29.99 for a shirt or $1,499 for furniture, they all have 99 subconsciously teasing the buyer that the price really isn’t the next increment up.

Dare I say many of us in the marketing and strategic communications industry may have brushed aside the announcement of the U.S. Treasury as a long-awaited change in our currency. But do we understand the consequences? Think about a pricing model that has been so engrained in our global consciousness, and it can no longer be leveraged. How will consumers react when they see prices that are based on the nickel rather than the penny?

If one is ordering a pizza and chooses the weekly special, which was $12.99 and now it is $13.00, will that make a difference? Sure, it is only a penny…huh, only a penny. From what I understand, if a consumer pays using a credit or debit card, the price will be unaffected, but if paying with cash, the price changes. Retailers too will feel the brunt of this as they will have to either do math in their head to round up or pay for an added piece of software to integrate with their point-of-sale system.

It may be too early to feel the impact of the loss of our copper-plated, zinc coin, but if you are in the communications industry like me, I think it is a wake-up call that the end of the greatest marketing hook ever created may be coming to a final close. For me, there is a bit of poetic justice in the fact one single cent has killed those 99 others who tempted fate by leaving the last cent out.