GPS Trackers Embedded in Candy Bars

To get you in the Halloween spirit, here’s a story about candy — and GPS trackers, of course.

Nestle is pulling a Willy Wonka – in a modern-day way. With the help of GPS tracking technology, Nestle has embarked on a mission to track down six lucky candy bar lovers with embedded devices.

The Swiss chocolatier company recently made the announcement throughout a variety of comedic commercials going by the tagline “We Will Find You.” In these commercials, the company told viewers that six Nestle candy bars in the UK and Ireland, including Kit Kats, Aero, and Yorkies, were embedded with GPS tracking devices in the wrapper. Once the wrapper is opened, the tracking device sends an automatic alert to Nestle who will then track down the customer and award their prize.

So what is the prize? Well it’s not a trip to the chocolate factory, as it was in the 1971 film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory“, which was adapted from the famous children’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory written in 1964. In the film, five lucky children found a golden ticket in their chocolate bar and was awarded a trip to the famous chocolate factory. The film was later re-imagined in 2005 and named “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” after the novel.

Instead, the six people who open Nestle candy bars embedded with a GPS tracking device will be tracked by Nestle and awarded 10,000 British pounds — which is roughly $16,218 in US dollars. Random chocolate bars in the UK were chosen, including the Aero Peppermint Medium, Kit Kat 4 Finger, Kit Kat Chunky, and Yorkie Milk.

Sorry, no GPS tracking devices were placed in Nestle candy bars bound for the United States, so your waistline is safe.

This isn’t the first time a contest like this has been conducted with GPS tracking technology, though it is expected to be the first successful one. In 2010, a Brazilian company called Unliever embedded several Omo laundry detergent boxes with GPS tracking devices; the devices would alert the company once the box was lifted from its shelf. Their promise was that the lucky winners would be found by the time they got home, and awarded prizes, including a video camera. However, a frenzy began when images of contest winners and their approximate residential location were plastered across Brazilian media, which privacy enthusiasts didn’t warm up to.

Residents of the UK and Ireland still have a chance to win their 10,000 British pounds because — as of today — none of the six candy bars have been found.

And there is no way to tell if you have purchased a lucky GPS candy bar at the store. A spokesman for Nestle said “inside their wrappers, the GPS-enabled bars looked just like normal chocolate bars.”

Aside from the candy bar contest, Nestle also plans to create a campaign with an NFC-enabled smart phone contest. Smart phone owners will scan codes on one of 3,000 posters placed outdoors with their barcode scanning app in hopes to win one of 2,000 cash prizes. The mobile landing page will also provide contest participants information on how many of the six candy bars have been found.

Here’s the clever promotional commercial used to market the contest:

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