'Hug Me' Coke vending machine: Asks for hugs, gives free Coca Cola

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - Coca-Cola's global marketing campaign dubbed "Open Happiness" takes on a new twist with a Coke vending machine that asks passers by to give it a hug.

The big red and white machine, located at the National University in Singapore, has "Hug Me" written across its front side.

And people are actually hugging it, which you can see in this video . Huggers were given free Cokes.

"Happiness is contagious. The Coca-Cola Hug Machine is a simple idea to spread some happiness," Leonardo O'Grady, a spokesman for The Coca-Cola Company, said in a news release .

The "Hug Me" machine is part of a regional initiative by the soft drink titan and Ogilvy & Mather. The "Open Happiness" campaign was launched in 2009.

"Reactions were amazing … people really had fun with it and at one point we had four to five people hugging the machine at the same time as well as each other!" O'Grady said. "In fact, there was a long line of people looking to give hugs – it was really heartwarming."

Coke plans to locate more Hug Me machines across Asia.

Watch students "hug" the Hug Me Coke machine.