Сoca-Cola committed to bridging the gap between people and countries alike in its Small World Machines initiative, rolled out back in March 2013. The peace-making project was designed to unite two nations, India and Pakistan, that have had very tense relationship over the past decades.

The idea behind the project was to sparkle no-hate communication between the two sides through simple and pleasurable things that can be done together simultaneously. Installed at local malls, the vending machines served as portals, inviting people from New Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan to connect with each other by performing tasks in real-time. The campaign was developed by Leo Burnett, with the dispensers created by Atlanta-based digital agency The SuperGroup.

People from the both countries could come face-to-face and start performing various actions together over the Coca-Cola red interactive vending machines, equipped with webcams. The activities included waving and putting hands together, dancing, taking photos of each other, tracing a variety of positive smiley faces and symbols of peace, love, and happiness on the multi-touch interactive screen.

“We used special active-shutter 3-D technology that projected a streaming feed onto glass while filming through that glass at the same time. This allowed people to make direct eye contact and touch hands,” commented Leo Burnett Executive Creative Director Jon Wyville.

Once they complete the collaborative virtual task, a celebration screen popped up and each person from the tandem got a free real Coke. As part of the emotional experience that was live for three consecutive days, more than 10,000 cans of Coca-Cola were given away to the participants as a reward for their contribution to spreading happiness in the world.

With the Small World Machines, Coca-Cola continues its positive-driven multi-year initiative which sees Coke re-imagining its dispensers and trucks, turning them into gift boxes and carriers of happiness.