how far would you go?
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By far the human psyche is packed with mystery, creativeness and pure excitement. How far would people go for a free pack of Fantastic Delites, the crinkle-cut rice snack? That’s what hidden cameras aimed to find out. Some were willing to push a button 50… 100… 1000… 5000!!! times, yes ~ but would they do something even crazier?
What about bowing down to the ”Delite-O-Matic” machine? Jumping jacks? Military style push ups? A little robot dancing? Well these people did, right in the middle of the mall! And yes, they successfully earned their free pack of chips!
To promote its Delites-brand rice chips, Australian snack manufacturer Fantastic set up an interactive vending machine called the “Delite-o-matic” that aims to answer the question “How far will people go for the taste of Fantastic Delites?”
The experiment starts out innocuously enough by asking passers-by to press a shiny red button a certain number of times in order to obtain a free pack of crisps. The number of clicks necessary to receive a freebie increases until it reaches 5000 times.
Then things take a turn for the Milgram.
A woman approaches the machine and is asked to “kneel down on the ground.” She obeys without question. Next, the Delite-o-matic asks her to “raise your arms above your head.” She complies with that request as well. Finally, the willing participant is ordered to “bow to the almighty one,” and a single glowing chip appears on the screen. The woman follows through, praising the snack at the mere promise of a free sample.
Others follow suit, and, soon enough, 1984.
“Did they go far enough?” the ad ultimately inquires before displaying an ominous forewarning: “To be continued…”
