Social Vending Lets You Buy Strangers a Pepsi

Want to buy a drink for someone who isn’t there? Soon you will be able to.

Social vending is the name of the game, and the latest idea from Pepsi is a revolution in the way we buy drinks / a complete waste of time (delete as appropriate).

So how does social vending work? Well, it seems that you buy a drink from the special Pepsi vending machine and enter the name and mobile number of the friend you want to treat to some syrupy carbonated water, along with a personal message. The thirsty buddy then goes to his nearest social vending machine and claims his Pepsi beverage.

It seems that a trade show in Chicago this week is going to feature a prototype of the new machine, which is to rival the Coke Freestyle machine which has been out for a couple of years now. We are promised a touchscreen and a cool design. If you are interesting in seeing it then it is going to be on show at the National Automatic Merchandising Assocation’s One Show.

Pepsi innovation officer Mikel Durham said that this vending machine will transform a “transaction oriented experience into something fun and exciting”. We have to confess that to us the one genuinely fun and exciting element of the social vending experience is the “random acts of refreshment” idea. With this you send a Pepsi to a stranger in an act of soda solidarity with a town suffering a heat wave or to help celebrate something or other.

Do you like the idea of social vending or does it sound like a bit of a pointless gimmick? Would you send someone a remote can of pop?

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Via: Mashable