Schweppes Australia in tie-up with the Vice magazine and the ad agency GPY&R Melbourne have initiated an anthropology-related research project Free Pouring to explore the most exotic drinking rituals and promote its branded online platform Cocktail Revolution HQ. Produced as a web series, the project documents the experience of the reporter Joel Cornell as he travels around the world to discover the most strange mixing and drinking habits of different nations.

The first stop on the tour is Shibuya, Tokyo, which is one of the major centers of Asian culture. Titled “Tokyo Toyboy,” the episode sees Mr. Cornell turned into a “professional boyfriend for hire”, who entertains female visitors to a bar. No dirty implications, just a sweet talk over a glass of wine. In Japan, successful women can pay cute guys for a platonic companionship over a drink, which seems rather unusual in the European world.

The Free Pouring project follows the last year’s successful 3-part Knapsack Bartender series that explored strange alcoholic brews in Sierra Leone, Romania and Bolivia.