Beat the Heat This Summer 7Up Style

The summer in Pakistan can be an energy sapping, body draining experience which can leave us parched and exhausted. A vending machine that allows us access to refreshments with an ease directly proportional to the brutality of the sun is something that sounds not only natural but pretty obvious. However, surprisingly none of us ever thought of such a contraption until recently when 7Up brought a host of melting vending machines to the town of Lahore.

These vending machines were made of blocks of ice with cool refreshing cans of soda stuck in them. There is a video here which shows the reaction of people to this addition to their streets. While the early birds had a difficult time prying their favorite refreshment from the solid blocks of ice, those who came in later as the sun climbed higher in the horizon found it fairly easy to take out cans from an already melting ice block.

The video has not only captured the cool new concept but also the very spirit of the weary commuters and their obvious delight at the unexpected treat on offer. No artificial cooling here, what you get is a super chilled can of soda the very natural way. We also see the general camaraderie as people team up to come up with ways to get to their cans and a few instances of good Samaritans lending a helping hand to their less imaginative counterparts. The sweat drenched men and women shown at the beginning of the video transform into a mass of laughing and playing individuals enjoying their unexpected drink.

The methods of advertising have undergone a sea change in the last few years. Brands are no longer limiting themselves to a minute of TV time to propagate their agenda. However, this new mode of advertisement is definitely something that the people of Pakistan have not been privy to until now. The concept not only shows the innovativeness of the brand but also it’s connect with the general masses and its willingness to bring a smile to a tired face.

Lahore has welcomed the new melting vending machines with open arms and we are all eager to see some other such empathetic advertising ideas that would take the edge off a long day for us. The success of any advertisement is measured by the impact that it had on people and the memory of these melting vending machines is sure to stay with us for a long time to come.