Coca-Cola’s holiday cans are generally something that people look forward to every year. They have been part of the Holiday season. Yahoo is reporting that there is a problem with the white cans in particular this year.  The white Coke cans are causing confusion from people mistaking the cans for Diet Coke.

Coke's white holiday can

Current Diet Coke Can

A debate is raging on the comment area of the comment section from the article on Yahoo.  Some users are coming to the defense of Coke saying, “The Silver Cans look Great !! Does America really have that many people that CAN NOT READ LABELS ?????”

However, another business owner has said the new cans have hurt his business, “James Ali, who owns Wall Street Deli in an Atlanta food court, said about half a dozen customers have returned opened white cans in recent days after realizing, too late, that they weren’t drinking Diet Coke. He lets them take unopened diet cans without charging them again.”

The cans are clearly causing some confusion about what product is being purchased, another commenter on the official Coca-Cola blog adds another side the controversy saying the can color has also changed the flavor of the Coke inside:

“So what is up with the coke in the white can. It doesnt taste the same and I dont like it. Please give us a choice. I bought one case thought I made a mistake and bought another. Its been one day & Im dying for a regular coke please dont do this. It sucks. I want my reg coke back.”

What do you think?  Is the new can confusing?  Could changing the color actually affect the taste of the product inside?

Let us know!

Now that Shaquille O’Neal, or “Shaq” as we generally know him, has officially retired, we look back at one of his contributions to one of our vending partners, Pepsi.  In today’s post we are featuring the uniquely spelled  “Shaq Attaq Paq.”

The bottles commemorate different facts about Shaq’s 92-93 rookie season with the Orlando Magic.  Some of the bottled laud facts such as “The first rookie since ’85 to start the All-Star-Game” and “1st rookie since ’82 with over 1,000 pts and 1,000 rebounds.”  One side of the box also features the 93-94 season schedule.

While the bottles were probably never offered in a vending machine, we’d advise not to drink one of these if one comes out since they’re about 19 years old.

How can we do a blog post about Plaxico Burress being released from prison today and make it topical?  Simple, we found a picture of him on an aluminum Pepsi bottle celebrating the Giants’ 2008 Super Bowl win.

If you want to own one of these pieces of Burress’ history you can buy one for yourself here.  There are three for sale as of June 6th ranging from $.99 to $16.20 all with no bids!  We are not affiliated with Ebay or any of the sellers…but we’ll take 15% if one of the above items in the link is yours and this promotion results in a sale!  (just kidding)

Do you have any vending related celebrity items you’d like to share?

Let us know in the comments!

The National Multi Housing Council released their yearly report showing the 50 largest apartment managers in the United States.  After comparing the list to our internal database we were able to determine that we manage vending for one or more properties at 48 of the 50 largest apartment management companies.

Maybe we can make it 50 out of 50 by the next report release!

Pepsi announced that they’re launching a new vending machine that showcases their Social Vending System.  Rather than using traditional buttons to make beverage selections, this machine has a large touch screen that allows users to navigate between drink choices and other functions of the machine.

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Sun Drop, the sleepy citrus soda that is mostly only found in the Southeastern part of the United States is getting a makeover with Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s latest plan to take the soda National. As part of a promotion campaign, the company has partnered with MTV’s Scratch to feature the drink on episodes of ‘The Real World Las Vegas.’ The deal is interesting because rather than just a flat advertising fee, the two companies have entered into a revenue-arrangement based on sales volume.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Dr Pepper Snapple Group is reportedly trying to take some market share from the top selling citrus soda in the U.S., PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew has 84.3% of the citrus soda market share while Sun Drop has 2%.

The decision to push the brand Nationally stemmed in part from a study conducted in New York City, “We did a taste test on the streets of New York City, and it has been abundantly clear that Sun-Drop can be a successful brand nationally,” said company spokesman Jason Genthner. “Sun- Drop is unique. It’s had that passionate following for many years, and we’re looking to capitalize on that passionate following and get it out to the masses.”

Given the extremely competitive nature of the declining carbonated soda business it will be interesting to see if Sun Drop can build on it’s smaller regional fan base and become a National brand.

If you have a charge on your credit card from SCI Vending it is most likely from Smart Carte International:  www.smartecarte.com.  Here is their phone number:  1-800-838-1176.

Vending Solutions is not affiliated with SCI Vending. They do not process any credit cards for our vending machines. Please do not contact us regarding SCI charging your credit card.

My company frequently receives calls from banks and other businesses asking if Vending Solutions is affiliated with SCI Vending. After receiving another call this morning I decided to do a little research on my lunch break that would shed some light on the SCI Vending “scam” mystery charges. (more…)

Want to buy the latest Pokemon gear but skip the store? One of our regular readers of the Vending Solutions blog sent us pictures of a Pokemon vending machine located at Northgate Mall in Seattle, WA.

The machine has a sign that reads “Pokémon Center.” The vending machine is very high tech and each side has different features. One side has merchandise for sale including Pokémon Trading Card Game box sets, booster packs, DS games, Pokédoll plushies and pocket games. Other sides of the machine have screens that show Pokemon anime movies, touch screen games, an interactive Pokédex, and the last side has a Wii featuring Pokémon Rumble.

This machine is the first of its kind in the United States. The Seattle area is on the cutting edge of all things Pokemon since the United States offices for Pokemon and Nintendo are headquartered in nearby Bellevue, WA.

Check out the pictures below! What do you think of the Pokemon Center? Would you rather buy your gear from a vending machine or a traditional retail store?

The side of the machine has a Wii featuring Pokémon Rumble

Pokemon center with games and plushies for sale

This side of the Pokemon Center shows Pokemon movies

This is a closeup of the Pokemon vending machine

This is the interactive Pokédex

Here at Vending Solutions we like to think of ourselves as very current on the happenings in the vending industry.  Imagine our surprise to find an article titled, Freddie Mac Introduces FredBox, First Ever Mortgage Vending Machine in our Google Vending News RSS feed.  As of right now, there are 134 results showing for “Fredbox” that have been posted in the past 24 hours.  Most of the vending blogs covering the story seem to have missed the astrix at the bottom that says, “Clearly a parody, boys and girls.”

The original article states that Freddie Mac issued a press release saying it will let investors buy securitized loans from vending machines that will be placed in airports, 7-Elevens etc.

Freddie Mac Vending Machine

While our company isn’t going to take a stance one way or another regarding Freddie Mac’s current status as a company, the article is an entertaining read.  Again, FredBox is a HOAX!  Freddie Mac is NOT PLACING A NETWORK OF SECURITIZED MORTGAGE BOND VENDING MACHINES!

There is big news from Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper this morning. The The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting that Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper Snapple Group inked a $715 million dollar deal to distribute Dr Pepper brands for the next 20 years.

This is great news for vending companies, especially in the South where Dr Pepper are both very popular. Additionally, Coke announced that they will begin adding Dr Pepper to their “Freestyle” soda machines which reported on here.

Click here to read the full article.