Via Facebook
In the latest sensory assault by the forces that seek to overrun society with neatly packaged desserts, Sprinkles, the pioneering cupcake chain, will add to its Georgetown location a machine representing a bleak, yet pastel-colored future.
Get ready for the cupcake ATM, a round-the-clock automated dispensary of Sprinkles’ over-frosted and too-cute confections that will debut in August at the shop at 3015 M Street NW. The Post writes that the device will cater to the drunken masses stumbling out of Georgetown bars at 2 a.m. craving something other than the prepackaged Hostess and Tastykake snacks available at the nearest convenience story.
The machine, which resembles a bank ATM (if bank ATMs were designed by Katy Perry), will be stocked with 600 cupcakes including Sprinkles’ many varieties. When in use, a series of robotic arms and levers withdraws a customer’s selected cupcake and moves it toward the dispensary window, but not before first placing it in a sleek cardboard box.
Each cupcake withdrawal is $4, 50 cents more than the price Sprinkles usually charges, but Sprinkles needs to cover the cost of the additional packaging, the Post reports.
But just why does D.C. need a round-the-clock cupcake vending machine? Sprinkles’ founder, Candace Nelson, told the Post that it could help cover the price of doing business:
“We pay rent whether or not we’re open, so why not be able to sell to people 24-hours a day? We certainly don’t want to staff a store into the middle of the night, so this has been a nice way to bring in some additional revenue,” Nelson said.
The technology could allow the company to expand without opening additional brick-and-mortar locations, saving millions in build-out and operations costs.
Nelson also said that she got the idea for ready-access upscale desserts when she was pregnant and jonesing for a cupcake.
“I thought ‘I own a cupcake shop and I can’t even get my hands on one. Just think of all of those pregnant women out there who would love a cupcake vending machine.’”
OK, we’ll spare most of the obvious disbelief toward the cupcake-shop owner who doesn’t have constant access to all the cupcakes she wants. Sprinkles deployed its first cupcake ATM in March at its flagship bakery in Beverly Hills, Calif. LAist has documented extensively the device’s apparently successful rollout.
Could this be a future sight on the M Street shopping corridor? Perhaps our own curious passersby and minor celebrities will pause to queue up for a treat when there are no other snacking options around. It’ll surely be a trap for tourists, food bloggers and other people who still think cupcakes are a thing. The future is awesome!
(Except when it isn’t.)
