Cornetto Commitment Rings

Netflix has taken the world by storm, transforming itself from a mail order DVD company into a streaming behemoth that uses immense amount of internet bandwidth worldwide. This in turn has led to a cultural phenomenon called Binge-watching, where you tend to watch 2-6 episodes of the same TV show in one sitting.

The insight ice-cream maker Cornetto had to this cultural phenomenon was that over 28 million Netflix users have binge-watch cheated on their loved ones. 21% of them did it while the other person was asleep, while 12% of them re-watched the show with their loved ones. So Cornetto to fix this “Netflix infidelity” created a pair of smart wearable rings that blocked access to the shows unless the two were watching them together.

The rings had to connect to the smartphone over NFC, and then through an app users would have to register the shows they wanted to watch together. After that, both parties would have to be present, and have their Commitment Rings nearby, to be able to play a new episode from any of the saved shows.

At the moment there aren’t any pricing details or release dates for this particular wearable, so you’ll have to keep checking the Series Commitment website for more details about it, or register with the site to receive more information about the product.

The Magic Poster

To promote the Quebec City Magic Festival, agency lg2 created a poster that featured a magicians hat. The message on it was however hidden from the naked eye with the help of an invisilble ink. Curious passersby who took pictures of the poster using their cell phone (flash on) unlocked the message. A lucky few even got a free ticket for the festival’s closing show.

WhatsApp Taxi

You need a taxi. Instead of calling or using a dedicated app, you open WhatsApp, share your location, and place the order by message. Taxi Deutschland positions “WhatsApp Taxi” as a simple way to request a cab in major German cities using the behavior people already know. Messaging.

Why this shows up now

After years of public sharing and transparency on social media, people gravitate toward more intimate, private, and even anonymous ways to communicate. That shift boosts the popularity of messaging apps and ephemeral messaging. Chat apps become hubs for social networks, games, e-commerce, and more.

The service. Taxi ordering by location message

Taxi Deutschland launches a new service called “WhatsApp Taxi” that allows users in major German cities to order a taxi by simply sharing their location via a WhatsApp message. The interaction is reduced to one core input. Your location.

The pattern. Messaging becomes an interface

Just last week I wrote about how KLM was starting to use Facebook Messenger for customer service related queries and tasks. WhatsApp Taxi sits in the same movement. Utility shifts into the messaging layer, and the chat thread becomes the service surface.


A few fast answers before you act

What is WhatsApp Taxi?
A Taxi Deutschland service that lets users order a taxi via WhatsApp by sharing their location in a message.

Where does it work?
It is positioned for use in major German cities.

What is the core user action?
Send your location via WhatsApp message to initiate the taxi order.

Why is this a marketing and product signal?
It shows how messaging apps evolve from communication tools into utility layers where services can be initiated and managed.

What is the transferable lesson for brands?
If your service can be reduced to a small set of high-confidence inputs, messaging can become a low-friction interface that people already understand.