Coca-Cola introduces new vending machine that responds to touch

A Coca-Cola vending machine installed at the National University of Singapore has "Hug Me" scrawled across it instead of its familiar logo.

The new marketing campaign created by Ogilvy & Mather takes gesture-based marketing — "liking" things on Facebook is another example of the strategy — to a new level by asking consumers to literally hug the machine.

With a hug comes a free can of Coke.

"Reactions were amazing…at one point we had four to five people hugging the machine at the same time as well as each other! In fact, there was a long line of people looking to give hugs — it was really fantastic and heartwarming," Leonardo O'Grady, ASEAN IMC director of Coca-Cola, said in a statement.

The "Hug Me" machine is part of Coca-Cola's "Open Happiness" campaign.

"Happiness is contagious. The Coca Cola Hug Machine is a simple idea to spread some happiness. Our strategy is to deliver doses of happiness in an unexpected, innovative way to engage not only the people present, but the audience at large," O'Grady said.