A pizza vending machine on the University of Guelph campus is drawing new customers thanks to a doorbell camera capturing the creative ways people pass the time while waiting for their food. The PizzaForno vending machine, which dispenses six different kinds of pizzas, has been a popular late-night stop for students for four years. But recently, operators installed a camera and the footage is quickly gaining attention online. “We’ve heard from students how rowdy and funny it can get here late at night,” said Mike Hurson, who operates the Guelph PizzaForno machine with his wife Lesley Bell. The camera records customers during the roughly three-minute wait for their pizza and the results have ranged from spontaneous dance parties to musical performances. Hurson said one of the most memorable moments came when a group arrived with instruments and performed a cover of “Wonderwall” while waiting. What began as sharing a few clips on social media has quickly turned into a marketing success. “It’s become like a phenomenon,” Hurson said. “We’ve only really been doing it for two weeks and we’ve gotten like 800,000 video views. It’s definitely been a surge in sales and right now, we’re pretty much sold out.” The videos from each week are entered into a contest and the best one wins a free pizza, encouraging even more creativity from customers. Brad Davis, a retired associate professor of marketing at Wilfrid Laurier University said the operators have struck gold with the concept because it feels authentic. “I love it,” Davis said. “The challenge with creativity is typically finding a new way to talk about your product.” He added that traditional advertising campaigns can be expensive and sometimes feel forced, while user-generated content often resonates more with audiences. “When you see something that effectively looks like almost home movies … where people are just being natural, it can be very, very effective,” Davis said. With dancing, cheering and impromptu performances now becoming common, operators said the camera has turned a simple late-night food stop into a social media attraction. So the next time customers stop by the pizza vending machine, they may want to remember one thing — say cheese.
