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Yoplait dishes out smoothies with facial recognition digital signage

One major challenge for advertisers is how to target customers based on their mood. Facial recognition technology is making it easier for advertisers to cater advertisements to a customer's mood. One example is the recent outdoor campaign from Yoplait, a yogurt company.

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February 18, 2020 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

One major challenge for advertisers is how to target customers based on their mood. After all, a cheerful advertisement might not resonate with someone who just got cut off in traffic. That's where facial recognition technology comes in — it's is making it easier for advertisers to cater advertisements to a customer's mood. One recent example is an outdoor campaign from Yoplait, a yogurt company.

Yoplait partnered with outdoor advertiser JCDecaux Australia to craft a DOOH campaign for its yogurt smoothie line of products. JCDecaux deployed an outdoor display on George Street in Sydney, Australia with facial tracking technology and a dispensing mechanism, according to a Youtube video.

The display uses an attract loop that asked guests to come get a free smoothie. Guests were directed to stand on a circle close to the display, and then the display asked them to "smile or frown for a free smoothie."

When a user would smile, the display would say they looked happy and give them a coupon that said "keep smiling." However, when a user would frown or make an angry face, the display would say they looked 'hangry' and would dispense a coupon to help fix their "hanger."

Customers could then take the coupons and redeem them at nearby retailers to get their free smoothie.

While many of the customers in the video at least appeared happy to interact with the display to get a free smoothie, facial recognition technology is a controversial subject among both businesses and customers. In fact, one comment on the video called the display a "violation of privacy."

At the time of the writing of this article, JCDecaux Australia had not responded if the campaign kept any personal data of users.

You can watch the campaign in action below.

About Bradley Cooper

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Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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