Meet the cup that lets you add a Facebook friend with a toast

Whatever its other effects, there’s no denying the fact that alcohol is a pretty effective social lubricant. Trouble is, a few too many social lubricants will see you forgetting all the people they’ve helped you meet.

Enter the Buddy Cup. It’s a pretty cool real world meets social campaign from American brewing giant Budweiser’s Brazilian arm. The Buddy Cup is a pretty standard beer drinking vessel, except it contains “high-tech chip technology integrated with Facebook”. People connect to Facebook with the device by scanning a QR code and friendship requests are confirmed with the blinking of a red LED light.

The cups, which are to be used at sponsored Budweiser events, are reportedly meant to “enhance brand activation and increase the interaction between Budweiser consumers.” It all sounds great, but we can see a few shortfalls. If your existing friends are anything like ours, things will get silly after a few Buddy Cups. Your own Buddy Cup could easily disappear while your friend goes to “get another round”. Allow this to happen a few times and you could wake up in the morning with a monumental headache and 300 or so new Facebook friends you’ve never actually met.

Via: The Verge