Treat-filled vending machines can be a source of controversy, but there’s no way anyone could argue against the socially nutritious stunt campaign by Quebec’s Literacy Foundation in Montreal.
Instead of dropping chips and pop into people’s hands, the machine distributes packets of words. This vending machine is one element of a much larger literacy campaign underway, which includes website, TV and radio spots, t-shirts, newspaper classified ads and Facebook app.
The idea is to buy words for people who can’t read them. When you buy a word to support literacy efforts, the money that you contribute goes towards the foundation to fund programs.
Justin Kingsley, VP special operations, Bleublancrouge
UNICEF’s ongoing Tap Project continues to use ideas to communicate its simple but important on-going mission. Its next idea is using a dirty water vending machine.
During World Water Week, visitors were able to sample the taste and benefits of Dirty Water. Available in a wide variety of choices like malaria, cholera or even typhoid, Dirty Water was not a new edgy designer brand but a way of bringing the realities of the world water crisis to every day’s life.
A specially customised vending machine dispensed murky discoloured water in various appealing “flavours”, as campaign staff tried to persuade onlookers to part with their cash in return for “contaminated” water.
Unsurprisingly, while many people chose to pass on the contaminated water, they did choose to donate money to the Tap Project fund, either by putting money directly into the vending machine, or by text donations.
This eye-opening Dirty Water initiative from Casanova Pendrill New York, went beyond the usual collection strategies for Unicef with this unique street activation, that shocked the local public who encountered the event.
Facts on Clean water
650 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one out of every 10 people on the planet.
Twice the population of the United States does not have access to safe water.
2.4 billion people have no safe sanitation facilities or latrines. That’s one out of every three people worldwide.
Only 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh water, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use.
By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages.
Water stress is the impact that lack of water has on a society, affecting nutrition, public health, environmental services, housing and urban growth, and national security. Today, a third of the world’s population lives under water-stressed conditions that affect socio-economic development.
Every minute, a newborn baby dies from infection caused by a lack of safe water and an unclean environment.
42% of healthcare facilities in Africa do not have access to safe water.
Water in Accra, Ghana, costs three times as much as in New York City.
In September 2015, world leaders committed to 17 Global Development Goals for Sustainable Development. Goal #6 aims to provide everyone in the world with clean water and proper toilets by the year 2030.
The exhibit on the Vote Vending Machine starts with this introduction:
As a conservation charity with limited funds, Chester Zoo has to support projects that will give the greatest impact. This often means making difficult decisions between spending our money in the UK or abroad.
Following are descriptions of the five projects:
The upkeep of Chester Zoo’s Realm of the Red Ape exhibit, which supports the orang-utan breeding programme in Europe.
Government lobbying to stop unlicensed logging.
Develop eco-tourism to promote alternative livelihoods for communities living alongside the orang-utans.
National park wardens to protect the forest and prevent poaching.
Education programmes in Sumutra and Borneo to change behaviours and attitudes towards wildlife and conservation.
Visitors are then asked ‘which would you support?’ and are given the opportunity to vote by purchasing a £1 badge from the machine, which will be used for good cause.
A charity vending machine that supports educations in Cambodia was installed at COOP Life Center on Nishi-Chiba Campus with 2% of its sales go towards the education fund.
Cambodia is facing problems including lack of educators and low quality of education. Customers can quench their thirst while supporting the Cambodia’s education system.
Coca-Cola and Japanese Red Cross have rolled out a vending machine that lets users donate money directly with the vending machine. The simple introduction of the charity button is aimed at making it easier for users to donate towards the rebuilding of areas hardest hit by disasters in Japan.
Users are given the option of donating either ¥10 or ¥100, and similar to a normal purchase, the buttons will light up when the money is inserted. But instead of receiving a beverage when pressed, the machine emits a loud ‘Thank you very much for the donation’.
The units themselves are branded with the iconic red cross and have some images of the work carrying out by the Japan Red Cross around the world and in Tohoku as part of the ongoing relief efforts.
Fun facts about Red Cross
A gruesome battle sparked the idea for the Red Cross. In 1859 Swiss entrepreneur Jean Henri Dunant witnessed the Battle of Solferino, in which some 40,000 troops were killed or wounded in a single day. Since neither army had much of a medical corps, Dunant organized a group of volunteers to bring food and water to the wounded, to treat their injuries and to write letters to their families.
The Red Cross has won more Nobel Peace Prizes than anyone. Dunant played little role with the Red Cross after a court held him primarily responsible for the 1867 collapse of the bank Crédit Genevois, where he served as a director. Nonetheless, he secured the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 along with leading French pacifist Frédéric Passy.
From 2004 through 2008, 51 percent of the disasters to which the IFRC responded were weather related.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy fix when it comes to work place incidents. WorkSafe Victoria brought to life the terrifying consequences of work place incidents with this striking installation. A Workplace Safety Vending Machine designed to sell spare body parts.
The Body-O-Matic machine was first unveiled at the National Careers and Employment Expo and on a statewide tour of worksites and training facilities.
Forgot your swim trunks, but aching to take a dip in the pool. Standard Hotels has partnered with Quiksilver to co-brand men’s and women’s swimsuits, which will be sold in swimsuit vending machines at the hotels’ pool.
History of Bikini
Although two-piece bathing suits were being used by women as early as the 1930s, the bikini is commonly dated to July 5, 1946, when, partly due to material rationing after World War II, French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini, modeled by Micheline Bernardini. Reard named his design for the Bikini Atoll, where the first post-war tests of the atomic bomb were taking place.
Orangina Bikini vending machine dished out free bikinis, trunks and bottles of Orangina to shake up your summer!
An interesting Cartoon showing Corporate Campaign Vending Machine. May be a future and more interactive way to vote? There is country require voter to write down the candidate’s name (correctly!) to make the vote count.
Vending machine was used cleverly for advertisement in this political campaign vending machine.
About Change
Change was Obama’s fundamental motif in his campaign. In addition to inspiring his “Yes We Can” campaign slogan, the ideology of change separated Obama from his opponents. During his campaign, change was the second most stated concept in Obama’s speeches, falling behind the economy. Change also became a part of Obama’s slogan, “Change we can believe in,” which appeared on banners, podiums, and posters.
Fun facts about Elections
In most places, elections are held on Sundays.
India is so huge, its elections can take weeks.
Swedish and French voters are automatically registered.
Voting is compulsory in Australia.
Kids as young as 16 can vote in Brazil.
Voter turnout in the US is extremely low compared to other developed countries.
In Chile, men and women voted separately until 2012.
Flossie, a women’s lifestyle magazine, has designed something very special for single women and it is brilliantly strange.
This creative project was developed on the basis that it would be great if single men were as easy to find as a can of Coke. So Flossie had the idea of a big vending machine packed full of real live single men to satisfy women of all ages. They auditioned all the men to check they were not mental cases, think Britain’s Got Talent, but with hotties.
The Rise of Online Dating:
One particularly notable change in dating habits is the rise and acceptance of online dating. Initially met with skepticism, online dating has become a common and accepted way to meet potential partners. In fact, according to a study by the Pew Research Center, as of 2021, about 30% of U.S. adults have used an online dating site or app, and 12% have reported entering into a committed relationship with someone they met through online dating.
A Historical Milestone: The First Online Date:
An interesting historical milestone related to online dating dates back to 1965, long before the internet became publicly accessible. Operation Match, developed by Harvard students Jeff Tarr, David Crump, and Vaughan Morrill, was one of the first computer-aided matchmaking services. Interested singles would fill out questionnaires, which were then processed by a computer to find compatible matches. Although it took weeks for results to be returned and the service was more playful than scientific, Operation Match is considered a precursor to modern online dating services.
