Pepsi Vending Machine Lets You Gift Drinks to Friends Via Social Media [VIDEO]

Coca-Cola launched a viral video last year that featured a magical vending machine that spat out pizzas and free Cokes. Now, rival Pepsi has introduced a real vending machine that has a magical property of its own: It’s social media-enabled.

PepsiCo’s Social Vending Machine, announced Wednesday at a trade show in Chicago, lets users send free soda to their friends. To do so, users select a beverage and enter the recipient’s name, mobile number and personalized text message with a code redeemable at another vending machine. Consumers can personalize the message with a short video recorded by the machine. There's also an option to send a free beverage to a stranger.

The new machine “extends our consumers’ social networks beyond the confines of their own devices and transforms a static, transaction-oriented experience into something fun,” said Mikel Durham, chief innovation officer at PepsiCo Foodservice, in a statement. Not surprisingly, Coca-Cola is also experimenting with the possibilities of vending machines. Aside from its fictional "Happiness Machine," Coke has also introduced interactive machines with touchscreens.