This week, Pepsi released its newest invention, and it has nothing to do with clear cola. Dubbed the “social vending machine”, Pepsi’s latest pop machine harkens back to their 1958 slogan, “Be Social, Have a Pespi” by allowing users to buy one for their friends after they buy one for themselves.

It works thanks to the ubiquity of the Internet and Facebook. Pre-purchase a bottle for your friend, then send them an email with a special code, and your friend can go to his local pop machine, enter the code, and voila! –a free Pepsi.
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“You know what consumers really want?” the CEO asks his employees? No one offered an answer.

“Connection!” he says enthusiastically. “Consumers want to connect with our brand on Facebook and Twitter. They want to feel connected and learn about new products and engage with our brand!”
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To be fair, Starbucks doesn’t just sell coffee. They sell an experience. They sell an idea. They sell ambiance.

During the company’s boom years, almost everyone in your office probably came in with a Venti or Grande coffee cup sporting the green siren. But for many, it was more of a fashion statement than a caffeine fix.

Of course, the company made a huge profit being a fashion mocha, er, mecca.
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One of my favorite snacks is Cheetos Natural, which funnily enough, is sold in the health food aisle at the grocery store. They really are “crack snacks”; I’ve been known to go through an entire bag in one sitting.

They aren’t your normal Cheetos, though – they are made of white cheddar, so your shirt and fingers don’t look Oompa-Loompa orange after devouring a bag. As far as the “all-natural” labeling, well, arsenic is “all-natural”, too, so you have to take it with a grain of salt, which I’m sure there’s plenty of as well.
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Here’s a headline for you: Big Changes Sweeping Online News. 

But reading about it may cost you. As it should.

Having tried for years to find a way to get people who read online news to pay for it, on Friday, The New York Times announced plans to charge readers for online content. (more…)

Netflix had a dark night last Tuesday, when Facebook premiered its streaming movie service. For 30 Facebook credits (about $3 bucks), Facebook users could “Like” the movie page for The Dark Knight to watch it straight from inside Facebook.

Warner Brothers – who owns the rights to the Batman flick – denied the streaming rights to Netflix and struck an exclusive deal with the social network phenomenon. (more…)