This edition was prepared in Montréal, Canada, where fall is starting to show its colors and the sun sets earlier and earlier. New here? Don't hesitate to send me a message to let me know what you're looking for in this newsletter.

Happy reading!

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Far from just dispensing chips and soda, vending machines are becoming cultural artifacts, testing grounds, or even artistic statements. Across the world, we’re seeing experiments that blur the line between utility, surprise, and storytelling.

Japan has long been the world champion of unusual vending: fresh flowers, umbrellas, ramen, and even beetles (yes, real beetles). But this movement is expanding globally. These machines are no longer just about 24/7 access; they’re sparking curiosity, questioning norms, and sometimes redefining how we consume.

📠 New in vending machine

Vending machines tell us something about our relationship with objects and immediacy. They are about automation—but also about imagination. By placing unexpected items inside a familiar structure, they challenge us to think differently about distribution, consumption, and even ownership.

3 cases of products in vending machine seems to be buzzing at the moment. More and more of the machines and these products are available 24/7 around the globe:

• 📚 Books → democratizing knowledge, making stories as accessible as snacks in vending machine. They are present in bars, schools where kids can discover literature with a token — enhancing the excitement for something as it falls down in the slot. Even public library are joining the mouvement with library2go.
• 🎨 Mini print → transforming a space once reserved for bubble gum into a gallery-in-a-box. Artists share their creations in playful, affordable formats while passersby stumble upon art in the everyday. Some artists mentioned how they make stable income from the vending machine more than other traditional art piece.
• 🩸Period products → the narrative around period product and feminine reproductive health is ramping up in schools, airports, public places. We see cases in India, Malta, USA, Australia and Canada where a legislation to have free menstrual product in the federal regulated buildings across the country was established in late 2023.

Other weird vending machines 👀

📠 Free pancake vending machine in Beijing made by robot

📠 Ammunition by Ammo in grocery stores alongside everyday goods.

📠​T-shirts​ for men and women at Zara's flagship store in Nanjing, China to avoid the checkout line.
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📠 Reverse vending machine Coca-Cola just released their concept in India allowing consumers to turn in their used bottles and cans.

📠 New themed japanese vending machines at SkyTrain stations in Metro Vancouver (Capstan, Metrotown, Olympic Village) to honor the experience in Japan.

📠 Glue-on nails vending machine also spotted at SkyTrain. Well, there is something going on with these vending machine popping in Vancouver - Curious to see what's next. 👀

📠 Colorful bagel vending machine in Saint-Simon-de-Rimouski a tourist attraction as well as a landmark by now ⚜️

📠 Short Story dispenser at Edmonton ariport. By French editor Short Édition. YEG was the first airport in North America and second in the world to offer passengers this unique reading opportunity.

If you like what you are reading, please share it. This newsletter is public and free: Let's democratize together the future of our objects.

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On my reading list

Le livre d'occasion: Sociologie d'un commerce en transition Vincent Chabault

Imagining after capitalism Andy Hines

La société des besoins : comment passer du superflu au suffisant ? Cécile Désaunay

See you soon,