Wacky Vending Machines
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Vending Machines of the World
Junk food and soda are oh-so yesterday. Now machines dispense everything from umbrellas in Japan to bread in the Netherlands and prepaid electricity in Africa.
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SANGRAAL AIKEN/Bloomberg News
The Automat
In the mood for a chicken potpie? If you're in New York, find your closest BAMN! automat, a retro self-serve store where you insert a few coins in exchange for a hot meal such as macaroni and cheese. Automats are making a comeback after being sidelined for years by fast food restaurants.
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Doug Mann/www.photomann.com
Umbrella Stands
In Japan, where space is particularly scarce, unusual vending machines have flourished for decades, particularly during the 1990s boom when labor costs soared. This umbrella vending machine is near Tokyo Dome, a Japanese baseball stadium. Customers pay extra for the convenience: The umbrellas sold through the machine are more expensive than the traditional store variety.
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Doug Mann/www.photomann.com
Flower Power
Vending machines are often installed in the path of commuters, who may be trying to kill time and could likely buy gifts as peace offerings to excuse any tardiness. This flower vending machine is in a Tokyo train station.
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Rogier van der Weijden
Dough Machine
Throughout Europe, fresh-food vending machines are used to sell edibles after regular store hours. Here, bread is dispensed in the city of Delden in the Netherlands.
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NAASHON ZALK/Bloomberg News
Commodity Vending
Vending machines are also used to sell commodities such as phone cards in Brazil or electricity in Africa. Here, in a township north of Johannesburg, South Africa, women buy prepaid electricity.
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Douglas C. Pizac, AP
Beauty and the Machine
Elizabeth Arden has tested automated shops in 10 California malls and at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. A "virtual beauty consultant" helps customers select the best products for their skin type. Automated machines allow Elizabeth Arden to sell its best-selling creams and products in malls where the company no longer has its own stores or counters within department stores.
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Robert Sullivan, Getty Images
Scent of a New Machine
Coty Star Scents tested machines offer customers sample squirts of perfume and cologne before they make a purchase. The company is hoping to lure young customers who do not necessarily spend time in department stores or duty-free shops. Its most telling finding so far: The best sellers are male fragrances from vending machines in airports.
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AFP/Getty Images
Books on the Go
Maxi-Livres automats offer 25 titles at 2 euros a piece, under categories such as the classics, gastronomy and dictionaries. The vending service started up in 1978, buying up publishers' stocks of surplus books for its popular bookstores.
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AP
You Want a DVD With That?
Want to rent a DVD and eat fast food at the same time? Look for Redbox kiosks in McDonald's restaurants, as well as Smith's Food & Drug Stores, Giant and Stop & Shop.
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Getty Images
Celebrity Vending
Celebrity endorsements have reached a new level. Your favorite stars not only grace magazine covers and television screens, but are now featured on vending machines as well.
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Jung Yeon-Je, AFP/Getty Images
Nude Vending Machines
"Nude" vending machines are a popular advertising gimmick in South Korea. The model inhabiting the machines hands out drinks once the buyer has paid. She is not quite nude, but is painted with the company’s logo.
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Rogelio V. Solis, AP
Wireless Buying
Japanese communication company, NTT DoCoMo provides mobile phones with both credit card and prepaid services which customers can use to shop without carrying their actual wallet. NTT DoCoMo has 12 million customers using mobile phones with wallet functions, which can be used at some vending machines.
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Eastman Kodak Co./AP
Say Cheese!
Photography icon Eastman Kodak Co. is teaming up with Maytag Corp. to roll out thousands of camera-and-film vending machines over the next three years. They aim to satisfy instant cravings for a must-have snapshot in away-from-home places like a beach, park or ski resort.
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Elise Amendola, AP
Goodbye Cigarette Machines?
Philip Morris USA, the nation's No. 1 tobacco company, offered to support a ban on cigarette vending machines and curbs on advertising, Wednesday, if the FDA backs off on any attempt to regulate cigarettes.
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AP
Healthy Choice
Looking for a healthy alternative to the usual potato chips and candy bars? Vending machine customers can now choose from better-for-you foods, snacks and drinks that complement their wellness lifestyles.
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AFP/Getty Images
Erotic Machine
Since February 25, 2008, it has been possible to buy sex toys out of a vending machine in the Dutch town of Tilburg. The machine is hangs on a wall outside a bar, and is the first sex articles vending machine in the Netherlands.
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Lluis Gene, AFP/Getty Images
Political Machine
As part of the "1 Hundred Days. 1 Million Faces. 1 Message" campaign, Amnesty International displayed toy guns in vending machines to encourage the public to support the end of the illegal arms trade worldwide.
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mrttgary9 08:36:52 PM Aug 02 2009
more people out of work if the vending machines take over
Corene791 06:41:19 PM Jun 28 2009
Again with this non-news? Come on, AOL. Do you have anyone working for you??
zanamu 03:18:55 PM Jun 18 2009
Not a lot of research went into this article. The very first automat mentioned (Bamn!), has already gone out of business.AOL, why has your news become so sloppy, Enquiresque, dated and redundant?
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