Pepsi's new Social Vending Machine

First they brought us the Pepsi Refresh Project, where the public could receive a share of $20 million to promote a new idea that would have a positive impact on the community, state or nation. These were funds that would usually have been spent on advertising during one Superbowl. That's a big statement from a big company to become more socially responsible.

Now the beverage giant has brought us another new social frontier, social vending - a real vending machine that is social media-enabled.

PepsiCo's Social Vending Machine, announced last week, lets users send free soft drink to their friends.

“Our vision is to use innovative technology to empower consumers and create new ways for them to engage with our brands, their social networks and each other at the point of purchase,” said Mikel Durham, Chief Innovation Officer at PepsiCo Foodservice. “Social Vending extends our consumers’ social networks beyond the confines of their own devices and transforms a static, transaction-oriented experience into something fun and exciting they’ll want to return to, again and again.”

This could potentially see the remodeling of vending machines globally.

This video (although a little lengthy) shows just how it would work.



Would you use a social vending machine?

EB