Community Corner

$1 Million Prize Rinsed Away From St. Louis Park Man

Scott Zilka was one of 25 finalists in Gain's 'Smell Like a Million Bucks' contest.

Winning $1 million just wasn’t in the cards for St. Louis Park resident Scott Zilka.

Zilka's video was one of as part of Gain's "Smell Like a Million Bucks" contest. He officially got word on Aug. 2 that his group didn't take home the grand prize.

“It’s disappointing,” Zilka said. “(But) it was always kind of a long shot.”

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The St. Louis Park resident, working alongside close friends Andy Anderson, Adam Fielitz and Jim DeSimone, put together a 59-second video based on a fictional 1950s game show. A contestant has to guess which of two men is an actual millionaire and winds up guessing incorrectly because one man "smells like a million bucks." Thanks to his Gain laundry detergent, of course.

Zilka, who played the game show host—as well as a talking detergent bottle—said being in the contest was a great experience.

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“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “We had a lot of fun doing it.”

Zilka said he’d like to use the experience as a spring board to more projects with his friends, although he doesn’t have specifics planned just yet.

And while he didn’t win a share of $1 million, Zilka did receive a laundry basket full of Gain detergent—something he said he would donate to the church where the guys shot their video.


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