Category: Emerging Trends

Coca-Cola Peace Machines

Small World Machines. India and Pakistan meet through a Coke

Over the years Coca-Cola keeps experimenting with vending machines and tries to make them much more than the average soda-spitter-outer. It places two machines, one in India and the other in Pakistan, and turns them into a communication portal. These “Small World Machines” allow citizens from both countries to interact with each other and complete shared tasks. The machines reward them with a Coke. The results…

Fair Play Machines. Inter and Milan fans can only give to rivals

The success of that has inspired Coca-Cola to once again bring fighting parties together. Now instead of bringing together nations at odds, it has tapped into the rivalry between Italian soccer teams Inter and Milan.

To ease the aggression between the fans, Coca-Cola installed their “Fair Play Machines” on opposite sides of Milan’s San Siro stadium as the teams faced off. Pressing the button of one machine dropped a Coke can down the chute of that on the side of the rival team. So this way rivals could only receive Cokes from each other. The results…

What this teaches about “peace” as a design problem

The strongest move is not messaging. It is creating a constraint that makes cooperation the easiest path to a reward. When a machine encodes that rule, behaviour shifts without anyone needing to preach.

A few fast answers before you act

What are Coca-Cola “Peace Machines” in this context?

They are vending machine concepts that turn a simple Coke transaction into a social interaction, designed to reduce tension between rival groups.

What is the core mechanic of the Fair Play Machines?

Pressing the button on one machine sends a Coke to the machine on the rival side. Rivals can only receive Cokes from each other.

How do Small World Machines relate to this?

They use the same principle. A machine becomes a bridge, enabling people in opposing contexts to interact and complete shared tasks that lead to a reward.

What is the main design lesson for brands?

If you want behaviour change, build the rule into the experience. Make the cooperative action the trigger for the reward, and keep it simple enough to understand instantly.

Coca-Cola: Give a Coke, Be Santa

A vending machine that asked you to choose who you are

In global FMCG holiday marketing, the strongest ideas often turn seasonal sentiment into a simple action people can take in public. Coca-Cola’s holiday vending machine is a clean example of that move.

Coca-Cola wanted to bring out the Santa in everyone. So for the 2013 holiday season, they created a special vending machine that prompted users to either get a free Coke or give a free Coke.

The two-button mechanic that made sharing the story

If the user chose a free Coke, the machine quickly dispensed the drink for the user to enjoy.

However, if the user decided to share, then the machine did something a little more special. Watch the video below to find out.

Why “give” feels better than “get” in December

The psychology here is straightforward. A free product is nice, but it is forgettable. A choice that reflects identity is sticky.

By putting “give” and “get” side by side, the machine turns a small decision into a moment of self-image and social proof. In a holiday setting, people want to see themselves as generous, and they want to be seen that way by others.

The business intent behind bringing out the Santa

The intent is not simply distribution.

Coca-Cola uses the vending machine to translate a brand promise into behavior. The brand is associated with warmth and sharing because the consumer enacts it, not because the brand claims it.

What to steal from this give-or-get design

  • Turn values into a choice. Make the brand idea something people can do, not just hear.
  • Reward the “better” behavior. If sharing is the story, make sharing the more memorable path.
  • Keep the interaction instantly legible. Two clear options beat complex instructions in public spaces.
  • Design for a public moment. When others can witness the decision, the story travels faster.

A few fast answers before you act

What did Coca-Cola build for the 2013 holiday season?

A special vending machine that offered users a choice: take a free Coke or give a free Coke.

What was the core mechanism?

A simple two-option prompt. Choosing “get” dispensed a Coke immediately. Choosing “give” triggered a more special outcome.

Why does the “give” option matter so much?

Because it turns a freebie into an identity moment. People remember what they chose, and others can witness it.

What business goal did this support?

Making Coca-Cola’s holiday positioning feel real by linking the brand to a visible act of sharing, not just a message about sharing.

What is the main takeaway for brands?

If you want to own a value like generosity, design an interaction where people can demonstrate that value in the moment.

Amazon Dash. When Commerce Becomes a Button

A tiny button that quietly changes how buying works

When Amazon introduces Dash, it does not look like a revolution. No screens. No interfaces. No checkout flow.

Just a small physical button. One press. Reorder complete.

At first glance, Amazon Dash can feel like a gimmick. But in practice, it signals something more fundamental. A deliberate attempt to remove shopping itself from the act of buying.

What Amazon Dash does

Amazon Dash is a physical, Wi-Fi-connected button linked to a specific household product. Detergent. Coffee. Pet food. Batteries.

You place it where the need happens. On the washing machine. Inside a cupboard. Near the dog food bowl.

When you run out, you press the button. Amazon handles the rest.

No browsing. No comparison. No cart. No second thought.

The real innovation is not the hardware

The button is not the story.

The real shift is intent compression.

Amazon is asking a provocative question. What if reordering does not feel like shopping at all?

Dash collapses multiple steps. Need recognition. Product selection. Payment. Fulfillment. Into a single physical action.

That move reframes commerce from a conscious decision into a habitual reflex.

Why this matters more than voice right now

Before voice assistants become mainstream, Dash pursues the same ambition through hardware.

No interface is the interface.

This is Amazon experimenting with a future where convenience beats choice. Where loyalty replaces discovery. Where the best experience is the one you barely notice.

Seen from that angle, Dash is less about buttons and more about locking demand upstream, before competitors even enter the consideration set.

A signal to brands, not just consumers

For brands, Amazon Dash carries a subtle but powerful message.

If you win the button, you win the household. If you lose it, you disappear from the moment of need.

Traditional branding competes on shelves and screens. Dash shifts the battlefield into kitchens and cupboards. Physical presence becomes digital dominance.

Distribution is no longer only about visibility. It is about defaultness.

Why Dash feels uncomfortable and that is the point

Dash also triggers unease.

Accidental orders. Reduced price transparency. Loss of conscious choice.

Those concerns are real. They highlight what Amazon is testing. How far consumers are willing to trade control for frictionless convenience.

Dash is not only designed to sell buttons. It is designed to teach Amazon something about behavior, habit, and reorder economics.

What Amazon Dash reveals about the direction of commerce

Even if Dash remains a niche device, the logic behind it is bigger than the hardware.

Commerce is moving toward:

  • Fewer decisions
  • Fewer interfaces
  • More automation
  • Stronger platform gravity

Dash is an early manifestation of a broader shift. Buying becomes less visible. Consumption becomes more continuous. Loyalty becomes infrastructural.

A few fast answers before you act

Is Amazon Dash “just a button”?
It is a button plus a new operating model for reordering.

What consumer problem does it solve?
It removes friction at the exact moment a household runs out.

Why should brands pay attention?
It changes the fight from “win the shelf” to “become the default.”

Why this story matters right now

Amazon Dash is best understood as a prototype of a mindset.

A belief that the best customer experience is the one that disappears. A conviction that convenience can become a moat. And a reminder that big shifts often arrive looking insignificant.

Sometimes, the future of shopping is just a button on a wall.