Vending machines are usually invisible. That is exactly what makes them such underrated advertising space: a full height, full colour surface standing in the busiest corridor of your building, and most companies leave it blank. The brands below did not.
1. Coca-Cola’s AR machine, Paris 2024
At the Paris Olympics, Coca-Cola replaced the machine face with a body-tracking augmented reality mirror. No buttons at all: shoppers operated it with head movements. The lesson for the rest of us is simpler than the technology: the front of a machine is a screen-shaped opportunity, whether the screen is digital or printed. Read more at the Shorty Awards.
2. Carvana’s car vending towers, USA
Eight storeys of glass, a giant branded coin, and your newly bought car descending through the structure. Proof that “vending machine” is a brand idea, not a size. See the Carvana press release.
3. KitKat’s slowest vending machine, India 2026
A chocolate bar takes several minutes to arrive, travelling through a miniature animated world. Shortlisted at Cannes. The wrap was not graphics, it was theatre. See it on Ads of the World.
4. Netflix’s edible hearts machine, London Comic Con
A machine styled as a butcher shop prop, dispensing hyper-real edible hearts. Gruesome, unforgettable, and a masterclass in dressing the whole environment, not just the box. See Famous Campaigns.
5. Adidas’ monochrome Superstar machine, UK
A full black and white wrap matched to one shoe, readable from across a shopping centre. The strongest argument on this list for what a disciplined two colour wrap can do. See The Machine Company.
6. Walker’s tartan shortbread machine, Edinburgh Airport
Heritage pattern as wrap language: the tartan does all the talking before you read a word. See D8 Studio.
7. Poppi’s hot pink giants, Super Bowl 2025
Oversized machines wrapped in a single saturated pink, shipped to influencers across America. One colour, total commitment, enormous reach. See Modern Retail.
8. Stella Artois’ artisan dispenser
Styled to look hand-built: glass chalices, a printed menu, no product grid in sight. For premium brands, the machine can whisper instead of shout. See BizBash.
9. Uniqlo To Go, US airports
The quiet one on the list: a clean white and red retail unit dispensing folded clothing, premium through restraint. Closest in spirit to what a corporate machine wrap should feel like on a workday. See Designboom.
10. Japan’s gachapon walls
Dozens of small branded machines banked into one glowing mosaic. If you run more than one machine, the bank itself is the canvas. See the Japan Times.
What this means for your machines
You do not need an Olympic budget. Every idea above scales down to a vinyl wrap done well: one confident colour language, the machine’s own shape used as part of the design, and the space around the machine dressed to match. That is exactly the work our branding team does, from a single canteen machine to a national fleet.
