Budweiser supposedly upgraded the toasting process with its Buddy Cup concept. Clinking these cups together makes people instant friends on Facebook.
Is this really a good idea? It remains to be seen, as the answer depends quite a lot on how much you are drinking. The Büddy Cup (yes, that’s how they named it, at least in the video, but we’ll get to that later) is a high-tech recipient that includes a chip integrated with Facebook. An LED placed on the upper side of the cup lights up when these are clinked together. The LED notifies the participants that the befriending operation has been completed on Facebook.
The next thing you’ll (probably) ask is: how does the Buddy Cup gets paired with my Facebook account. I’m glad you asked that! The bottom of the cup has a QR code that needs to be scanned with a smartphone on which the Facebook credentials have been entered.
And now may I present to you… the worst case scenario! Someone (I’m not saying that it’s you…) gets more than tipsy when attending a social event. The “party animal” expression must have had an origin, right? Well, let’s suppose that the cup gets misplaced or someone else takes it and decides to befriend you with 5000-(your current number of friends). Welcome to your worst drinking (and social networking) nightmare!
Do you speak German? Well, I only speak enough of it to survive if I ever get lost in Germany/Austria/Switzerland. Still, I know how the umlaut works and if you don’t, check out this video. Yes, in Budweiser’s video, the ü looks cool, much like a smiley (a very drunk smiley, since we’re at it) and must be a really nice touch for snobs.
On top of that, people are known to mispronounce words after getting tipsy or worse. Don’t you think that ü is a sound a drunk person would include in various words when trying to speak coherently? This also reminded me of Dylan Moran and his speech on dancing… Do you like my müves?
Fortunately, Budweiser claims that the Buddy Cups will only be used at sponsored events such as festivals. This is a wise decision, as people don’t have enough time to get wasted in such a context. Also, has Budweiser considered a way to have the chip unpaired from the Facebook account, other than destroying the cup?
If you liked this post, please check the XOOM/Arduino beer dispenser and the periodic beer glass.
