Liquor Bottles Now Can Talk to Your Cellphone

MLIVE

The message-in-a-bottle routine is going Wi-Fi. And that means pretty soon you’ll have your very own mini Times Square at the bar, right on the bottle.

“Everyone likes to see their name in lights,” says Brandon Laidlaw, president and chief operating officer of Pleasanton, California-based Medea vodka, which recently introduced a liquor bottle equipped with an LED message band that can be programmed to scroll any message that inspires you via a free smartphone app.

OK, so maybe it’s message ON a bottle. But the point is the same. Bluetooth technology is changing the way drinkers — and barkeeps — are interacting with their bottles.

This new use of tech means consumers can customize messages on the bottles they are drinking. Heck, they even can track its exact location. Distributors and bar owners can use the same technology to track purchases and get sales data. And global drinks company Diageo even is working on smart sensor-equipped bottles that communicate with consumers’ devices and switch gears — recipes vs. sales promos — once the bottle is opened.

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