Coca-Cola Encourages Recycling In Dhaka With Arcade Game That Runs On Empty Bottles

Machines Let Users Plays A Video Game In Exchange For Used Bottles

Let's face it. Recycling has always been the right thing to do for the environment, but it's not fun—unless you turn it into a game.

 Or better yet, an arcade game.

 Coca-Cola built an arcade game machine that runs a Coke bottle-themed version of "Pong," with a twist: the machine accepts not coins but empty Coke bottles.

"When 15 million people don't care about recycling, the environment is sure to head towards slow but sure disaster. Coca-Cola wanted the people of Dhaka, Bangladesh to start thinking about recycling with an arcade machine that runs on empty Coca-Cola bottles. Surely, happiness doesn't end with an empty bottle of Coca-Cola," the company said in a YouTube video posted April 25.

In the video, the company said its "Happiness Arcade" went into action in six locations in six days in Dhaka.

The machine instructs would-be players to insert an empty Coke bottle to play the "Pong"-like game where Coke bottles took the place of the paddles.

During the campaign, Coca-Cola said thousands of bottles collected and turned into pellets to be reused again, "making a case of recycling one game at a time."

Grey Dhaka, the ad agency behind the campaign, said the campaign is ultimately "all about awareness-raising."

"For Coca-Cola, a brand that commands global attention and needs to be on the front lines both of acting sustainably and communicating sustainability, Happiness Arcade is a decent start,"