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Coca-Cola's AI-generated soda tastes like marketing
AI is just about everywhere lately, but nobody expected it to be used as a salvo in the ongoing cola wars. Coca-Cola, however, has other plans, as it just launched a new flavor co-created by artificial intelligence. The company’s calling it the soda “from the future” and it’s available for a limited time in both regular and zero sugar varieties.
Coca-Cola is launching vending machine subscriptions in Japan
Coca-Cola is launching a subscription service in Japan via its Coke on smartphone app that offers a soda per day for a monthly fee.
Junk technology: A ridiculous history of fast-food PR stunts
Who doesn't love a good, over-the-top marketing stunt? Recently we've seen a lot of those, including Pizza Hut's Pizza Parka, a coat made out of the same insulating materials as its delivery pouches. Because why not? That ridiculous product from Pizza Hut shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, this is the same company that made shoes that can order a pie for you. But Pizza Hut isn't the only one trying to get creative using technology to promote its brand.
Coca-Cola is the first company to pay Twitter for custom emoji
Hashtag-activated emoji have been invading our Twitter streams for some time now, but would you believe me if I told you that those Star Wars, Dominos and sport-focused icons didn't make Twitter a dime? Apparently, they didn't, but that's about to change. The company testing out custom "hashflags" as paid advertising -- starting with Coca-Cola's #shareacoke campaign.
Keurig's soda machine will let you make Dr. Pepper drinks
Keurig just got a big edge over SodaStream in the make-it-yourself beverage wars. The normally coffee-focused company has reached an exclusive deal that will let you make some of the Dr. Pepper Snapple group's drinks in its upcoming Keurig Cold machine, which arrives this fall. There's no mention of the exact brands, but it wouldn't be surprising if you get pod-based versions of big names besides Dr. Pepper or Snapple, like Canada Dry and Crush. Between this and a pact last year with Coca-Cola, about the only recognizable soft drinks you won't make with Keurig's machine are from Pepsi, which has been testing versions of its beverages with SodaStream. It's too soon to know if these on-demand versions of major drinks will taste like the real thing, but you at least won't have to settle for generic recipes when making fizzy liquids at home. [Image credit: Frankieleon, Flickr]
Coke-branded PlayStation All-Stars advergame hits iOS, Android
Sony recently announced a partnership with Coca-Cola to bring a Coke Zero-branded game to iOS and Android by the name of PlayStation All-Stars Island. The game features four characters: Sackboy from the LittleBigPlanet series, Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series, Cole MacGrath from the InFamous series and Kat from Gravity Rush. Those four characters tackle four mini-games in which players collect Coke Zero "orbs," which are then used to unlock "Make it Possible" moves. PlayStation All-Stars Island is available now for free through the iOS App Store and Google Play store. %Gallery-195705%
WoW Archivist: WoW's craziest TV ads
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Nefarian swallows a truck. Two women duke it out in a supermarket. A trio of singers shouts, "No means no!" Mr. T introduces a new race and Chuck Norris roundhouse-kicks a kodo. Those responsible for advertising World of Warcraft have hit on some crazy ideas. This week, Blizzard debuted its first TV ads for Mists of Pandaria. As I'm writing this, I've just watched them air live on Monday Night Football. That's a big-time slot for a commercial here in the States and runs a cool $325,000 per nationally televised spot. The ads feature clips from the official trailer. If only the Bengals had put up as much of a fight as that panda. But not all of WoW's commercials through the years have been quite so ... straightforward. Let's take a look!
Spotify: the iPad app is 'in the works'
It's never a great sign when the first thing you see upon entering a press conference is a giant Coca-Cola logo. iPad and web platform rumors aside, today's Spotify "special announcement" event was all about the soft drink side of things, marking a partnership between the music streaming service and Coke, which involves, at present, some Spotify / Coke apps. The first question from the audience, however, revolved around the rumored tablet version of the service. Spotify founder Daniel Ek acknowledged that it is indeed "in the works," otherwise evading the question, insisting that the event was all about the Coke partnership, to the relief of the two beverage reps who joined him on stage.
Bobby Kotick joins Coca-Cola board, will advise on digital media
Shortly after appearing in a cameo for Moneyball, Activision Blizzard CEO has picked up another choice role: He's joined The Coca Cola Company's board of directors. Kotick will help oversee the classic sugar water giant, and advise the company on its entries into digital media. Kotick also serves on a few educational institution boards, the board of directors at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and as the founder of the Call of Duty Endowment, Activision's nonprofit arm, built to support US armed forces veterans and their families. Kotick also served on Yahoo!'s board of directors previously.In completely unrelated news, Coca Cola also announced an "online pass" for its sodas going forward: You'll get all the water and carbonation of your soda with the initial purchase, but the actual syrup flavoring will require an extra charge. Ice will require a complete subscription.
Coca-Cola's green billboard consumes carbon dioxide like so much sugary soda
Sure, we've seen plenty of cool billboard features over the years, from facial recognition to interactive Pong games, but few have managed the dual feat of promoting a popular soft drink and making the world a slightly greener place. All of that fuzzy area you see surrounding the silhouette of the Coke bottle in the above 60 by 60 foot billboard is made up of a number of Fukien tea plants, each of which can soak up around 13 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, for a combined total of 46,800 pounds. The plants are housed in pots made from recycled Coke bottles and are watered via a drip irrigation system. The billboard is the product of a partnership between Coca-Cola Philippines and the World Wildlife Fund. No word on when it might be greening up more skylines around the world. Press release below.
Shocker! Apple product placements dominate Hollywood
Something you already knew to be true has just been confirmed by Omnicom's Interbrand brand consultancy division: Apple reigns supreme in Hollywood films. Interbrand's Brandchannel website dug deep into the fetid bowels of product placement to reveal Hollywood's preferences (paid or personal) in the 33 films that hit the US box office number one slot in 2010. Brandchannel identified 591 total brand or product appearances for an average of 17.9 placements per film, with Apple appearing in ten of the top films for a 30 percent share -- Nike, Chevrolet, and Ford each appeared in eight. Incidentally, Iron Man 2 won the dubious distinction of being cluttered with the most identifiable brands (64) in 2010. Apple is actually off from its peak of 50 percent of number one films in 2008 and 44 percent in 2009 as demonstrated in the chart after the break. But it's not for a lack of trying. Brandchannel contends that the competition for brand placement has simply intensified resulting in fewer appearances of Janoff's U+F8FF.
Bloom 'Box' Energy Server hands-on (literally) with video!
So here it is, the now-famous (that was fast) Bloom "Box" Energy Servers -- all five of 'em -- working their magic at eBay's north campus. Not much to look at, but we're happy to say it retains a low temperature -- the only heat we really found was due to direct exposure to the light -- and remains quiet while running. There are vents just underneath the sides where cool air was being pumped out. Of course, its raison d'etre is its ability to more efficiently deliver power, which is not something we can really test ourselves. Bloom Energy showcased a number of customers today -- FedEx, Walmart, Staples, Google, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Cox, and of course, eBay -- and if the numbers meet their mark, you can color us mighty impressed. You know the drill: gallery below, quick video after the break! %Gallery-86437% %Gallery-86409%
Vork shows up in the Super Bowl
Is that... Vork? Quite a few tipsters have spotted this Super Bowl ad for CareerBuilder.com, and about halfway through, what appears to be The Guild's Jeff Lewis in his skivvies jumps on screen (we've preserved the image in a quick screenshot above -- you can thank us later, ladies). We actually checked in with The Guild, and they confirmed that yes, that is everyone's favorite GM. Feel free to cheer/ swoon/ shudder appropriately.Lewis met up with us (and the rest of The Guild's cast members) back at BlizzCon, and it's good to see his star is.. rising? (we kid!) Keep an eye on the rest of the ads for the big game this Sunday night as well -- it looks like Coke has an online gaming reference coming with their "Avatar" ad, and considering how gigantic World of Warcraft is on TV lately, we may see some other sly winks towards our favorite game.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
BlackBerry Thunder caught on video, with a ninja
BREW Ninja, who readily (and oddly, for a ninja) admits that he's a mobile QA engineer over at Yahoo! Mobile, just scooped 3x phones in this quickie 4 and half minute video. The HTC Coke -- a variant of the HTC Touch Pro -- and tiny LG Lotus with full QWERTY for Sprint (AKA, LX600) are both interesting, but it's the hands-on video of RIM's touchscreen Thunder that blows our doors. At about 2:50 in, he reveals the BlackBerry Thunder for Verizon (AKA, Storm 8350) saying, "I don't like it, it's, it's an ok phone." His biggest concern seems to be the touchscreen (something we've heard before) which acts like a button -- you have to actual push the screen, hard, unlike most capacitive touchpanel devices. See for yourself after the break. [Via Crackberry]
Making your mark
There are two basic pieces to Linden Lab's virtual world. There's Second Life Grid, which recently got a name of its very own, which is essentially the platform, technology and company behind it. Then there's the other bit. The part where Linden Lab so often says the real value is. Second Life, says the Lab, is the community, the content. All those people. That's the real value, it says. So, if so many users (the exact number isn't important here) are what is described by the marks SL and Second Life (as distinct from Second Life Grid, which describes the underlying platform) -- if that endless creation of and remixing of content and communities is called Second Life -- why don't the people who Second Life actually are get equal time with what is, essentially, their own collective name?
GameTap severs ties with Derek Smart's Galactic Command
Derek Smart. It's a name resigned by many to whispers in quiet corners for fear of incurring the vocal wrath of one of the most eccentric, dare we say manic game developers this side of a coke machine. The man behind such nefarious titles as Universal Combat and the Battlecruiser series has made a name for himself by beating up vending machines and releasing buggy, open world-style space titles, though Smart's latest endeavor, Galactic Command – Echo Squad, was poised to be his first take on the growing episodic game market. That is, however, if it is ever released.The game, first announced last year by GameTap, has been dropped by the would-be online publisher, as GameTap content VP Ricardo Sanchez told Gamasutra that the four-part space shooter "wouldn't resonate too strongly with our audience." He does compliment Galactic Command, however, calling it "one of Derek's strongest games," thought to be honest that's a bit like rating splinters based on depth and propensity to bleed. Smart has said that he's looking to bring the 16-player online shooter to Xbox Live as well, so we may someday see if Galactic Command lives up to Smart's existing triumphs, or if it's actually, you know, playable.
Cinemassively: Coca Cola Virtual Thirst
Millions of Us and Crayon recently held a contest for Coca Cola Virtual Thirst in Second Life. Entrants were asked to submit their ideas for an innovative vending machine. The grand prize, won by Emerie May, consisted of a trip to San Francisco to collaborate with Millions of Us on their idea, plus 500,000L to spend inside SL.The Machinima for the winning idea was created by Aren Mandala, otherwise known as Michael Verdi, vlogger extraordinaire. It explains what the contest was about and showcases the winning entry. Among the features you'll discover are puzzle bottles, a snowglobe photobooth, a giant bubble ride, and a snowball vending machine. You can start your Coke puzzle by heading to Style today![Via Millions of Us]
Vending machine disguise may or may not fool criminals
How anyone could think that a cloth vending machine would fool even the stupidest of criminals is beyond us, but we guess if the convertible skirt / vending machine is going to be made somewhere, it might as well be in Japan. The New York Times has the write-up of Aya Tsukioka clothing designs, intended to provide the vulnerable with ways of avoiding thieves and other evil folk: beyond the Coke machine, there's a purse shaped like a manhole, and a child's backpack that looks like a fire hydrant. Here, we just carry guns.[Thanks, Ross M.]
Coca Cola readying self-chilling soft drinks?
And you thought non-stick chewing gum was the heat. Turns out, Coca Cola may be plotting a new version of Sprite that actually chills itself upon opening. Apparently, the drink has to be kept at a specified temperature before being snapped up, and once the oh-so-thirsty consumer pops the top, "a mechanism inside creates ice made from the drink, so it is not diluted." Reportedly, the beverage would sensibly be called Sprite Super Chilled, and if it does indeed hit the UK (and prove successful) by "early next year," the technology could then be passed along to Coke, Diet Coke or even "super cold alcoholic drinks, particularly beers."[Via Tech Digest]
Wanna Wii-a, for free-a, don't you wanna?
Coca-Cola's Nintendo love is spreading across the pond this summer. Beginning May 20th, soda guzzlers in the UK will have a chance to win an "Ultimate Wii Games Room," and one of over 1,800 DS Lites. All you have to do is enter codes from specially marked (we've always wanted to say that phrase) bottles or cans of Fanta, Dr. Pepper, or Sprite, and cross your fingers.The only sad thing to us is the the "Ultimate Wii Games Room" consists of a Wii (woot!), a 26" LCD tv (eh), Wii Sports (only one game?!), a mini-fridge (now we're talking), and three cases of soda. That's ultimate? We expected at least some Wario Ware: Smooth Moves in there and more soda for our gaming marathons. But if it means less dancing Fanta girls, then we're willing to compromise.Of course, to really hit a home-run in the product promotion field, they should also partner with a toothpaste company. We keed, we keed. A little bit. Good luck UK sugar fiends!
