Recently Mariah Carey announced the release of a new non-alcoholic beverage not surprisingly called Butterfly – a image that has come to be synonymous with the singer.
Packaged in a ‘Go N’syde’ bottle, the drink is a pink non-alcoholic beverage described as “interactive.”
So what exactly does ‘interactive’ mean you ask.
Well, Butterfly drinkers can download the Go N’Syde Beverage app and scan the bottle, and will be given access to Mariah’s new social network for exclusive photos, videos and more.
“This is a whole ‘nother thing,” Mimi told Entertainment Weekly. “We can do this, and I will almost be in the room with you.”
The man behind the ‘Go N’syde’ debuts is Kevin Liles, Former Def Jam CEO. “You’ve seen Elvis holograms, you’ve seen Mariah, of course Tupac and the latest is Michael Jackson, but those are moments that only happen one at a time,” Kevin told MTV News. “With Go N’Syde, an artist like Mariah can program this every day. She could say, ‘Hey I just got out of the studio, why don’t you go inside Butterfly with me right now?’ And then you’ll see her studio.”
“My hope is to take this technology and put it on anything,” Kevin went on to reveal. “You can put it on a stop sign, you can put it on a Pepsi or Coke can on a Budweiser can. People can copy augmented reality, but they can’t copy the technology because there is no scan code, bar code or old fixture, it’s something we can place on top of anything.”
Mariah isn’t the only artist getting in on this new age beverage. Jay Z’s 40/40 Club is also in the act. The drink donning the same name as his sports bar has a Arnold Palmer-esque taste. Launched in late May, the beverages are currently moving at a pace of 1,000 bottles a week. Each bottle retails for $1.99.
So is this the latest, greatest wave of beverages? Are fans willing to scan a code to get exclusive content about their favorite artists?
Well according to 102 votes, not so much.
Seventy-four percent said they have no interest in going that extra mile.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle, is that Apple and Android have yet to pre-load their phones with QR readers. It’s just one more step that’s needed before using that first scan. This may be a deal breaker in most cases, given the fact that these two mobile platforms accounted for north of 80% of phones purchased.
While this may be the way technology is headed, that day is not today.
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