December 8, 2010
Flowers, cookies, Twister: It wasnt your usual Coke machine
A Coke machine came alive and started giving away extra Cokes and prizes on Friday as dozens of students watched, applauded and shot photos and videos. It happened in By George, the restaurant in the Odegaard Undergraduate Library. Just another day on campus.
A student collected a few extra bottles from the living Coke machine.
“Its basically a Coke Happiness Factory,” said Olivia Shjeflo, whose title is Coke Campus Ambassador. “Its a brand new program were touring around college campuses. This is our first stop.” The machine links to a Coke advertising campaign.
Students may have wondered what the extra Coke machine was doing on the west side of By George late morning on Friday, Dec. 3. Then the machine itself spoke up, responding to one students payment with loud “glug-glug-glug!” noises and a series of extra bottles of Coke.
As various students tried their luck, the two anonymous Coke workers inside (for whom it must have been a long day) played sound effects and stuck black-gloved hands out the slot bearing more odd prizes for all. Out came cookies, flowers, candy canes, a game of Twister, Husky t-shirts and caps, big bottles of Coke, and more.
“Its all about the element of surprise, and its pretty fun,” said Shjeflo.
The students seemed to agree as they gathered up their winnings. “This is so cool. We should have this in every building,” said one student. You can see a Youtube video of the Coke Happiness Factory online.
