Is Social Vending Anything Like a Happiness Machine...?

Pepsi's testing a touchscreen "social vending" machine that aspires to turn your thirsty impulse buy into a potential act of empowerment or goodwill.

Choose from three options: buy a drink, connect to the Pepsi Refresh Project or commit a "random act of refreshment" -- that is, gift a drink to somebody who deserves some carbonated sweetlove. Enter their name, mobile phone number and a personalised message; the machine will send that person an SMS with a code enabling them to redeem their beverage from any other "social vending" machine.

And not that I needed to invite the comparison, but hey, this reminds me a lot of Coca Cola's Happiness Machine, except infinitely more scalable, for obvious reasons: you don't need people living inside it, doling out six-foot subs and whatnot.

Go West, Young Hipster.

Spread your seed, and the gospel of Coke!



That's all I have to say about that.

One Heist Worth an Emmy

Congrats to Psyop and Wieden + Kennedy/Portland for "Heist," their Outstanding Commercial coup:




The brand Coca-Cola was born in 1887, and it's done a stunning job of maintaining fidelity to its good, clean Happy! worldview -- even as the world changes dramatically around it. Check out this piece from 1889:



Worth noting: technology -- and all its advancements -- is your tool. Staying relevant doesn't mean peddling who you are in exchange for every Hype Choo-Choo that comes rambling 'round the hill.