Senior health management major Raven Price received a free coke from the Hug Me machine that came to campus on Thursday, Sept. 29. She was one of a number of students, faculty and staff that came to give the Hug Me machine a hug after its unveiling.
Megan McCormick/The Lion's Roar

As students headed to class or lunch, they were in for a surprise as they walked through the union. 

The Hug Me coke machine brought smiles and laughter to the students of the university on Thursday Sept. 29 in the west lobby of the Student Union. Beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing until the machine was empty, students, faculty or staff who hugged the machine received a free ice-cold coke. Students were happy to hug the machine that was filled with about 600 cans of coke.

“I like that I get to hug it,” said Haley Washington, a junior business major. “That’s my favorite part. I feel the love when I get the coke.”

The “Hug Me” was created by The Coca-Cola Company and Ogilvy & Mather, initially appearing at the National University of Singapore.

Coca-Cola’s global marketing campaign “Open Happiness” encourages people to “bring positivity, optimism and fun into their lives.” 

The “Hug Me” campaign has been all over the country and world, including this university.

“Southeastern is one of our great customers and we consider them a partner and we just wanted to make sure we brought it to the students here cause this university is very important to our company,” said Paula Kelly, key accountant for Coca-Cola.

Kelly was happy to have the machine at the university and was expecting it to be more of a surprise.

“It’s going great,” said Kelly. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm. The funniest thing is that we thought it would be a surprise; it’s not a surprise. Everybody already knows about it because of social media. So it has already been at Tulane and LSU and apparently the word got out based on those appearances.”

One student found it interesting on how the machine works since it does not have buttons like a normal vending machine.

“I like that it has sensors that knows that you’re putting your hands on it, and it can tell that there’s pressure on the coke machine to put one down,” said Jenna Licciardi, a sophomore marketing major.

Another student liked the fact that she did not need money and she also felt the compassion.

“I love that it gives you compassion and it’s like  you pay through warmth and compassion,” said Skylar Shaw, a freshman nursing major. “It’s not just ‘Give money.”’