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How many times is it that you are at a party with friends and forget which beer is yours? Well, regardless of the smarta$$ comments that are sure to follow, it happens alot.
My idea comes from the fast food industry. Ever notice the little bubbles, domes or blisters on the drink lids of your
favorite burger joint? The server usually punches down one of these to indicate the type of beverage in the cup, e.g. Tea, Diet, Dr Pepper, etc.
I say let's have the beer makers start putting these on the tops of beer cans. If they could put six of these blisters on a can, numbered 1 through 6, that would give 64 unique combinations. Now, all you would have to do is press down your own personal combination of blisters whenever you open a new beer. No more confusion!!
It would be easy enough to establish "codes" for the people in your usual drinking group. Although, there may be some territory disputes when a newbie is in your group.
Cost: $0.00!! Can manufacturers would only need to modify the dies used to stamp out the beer can tops. Since it is probable that the exisiting dies eventually wear out anyway, just wait until the next replacement is scheduled.
Now, all we need is those refrigerator-friendly 12 packs that Coke uses!!
Deter Beer Thieves
http://www.halfbake...mbo_20Lock_20Cooler [Mr Burns, Oct 05 2002]
[link]
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How often do you carry around a permanent marker? |
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<rummages in bag> yep, which colo(u)r? |
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Well, if other people stealing my drinks were a problem I'd do it all the time. |
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Beer theft isn't really the problem. If it were, I recommend writing your name on the BOTTOM of every can in your cooler. That way, you can easily identify the pouchers! |
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I'm more concerned with picking up someone's beer can/ashtray, mistaking it for my own! Yuck! |
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thought we were putting our name on the top of the can - mind you in my neck of the woods , we use glasses. |
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//Cost: $0.00!! Can manufacturers would only need to modify the dies used to stamp out the beer can tops//Likelihood of price hike to consumers: inevitable |
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Or how about, you just >wait for it< KEEP YOUR DRINK IN YOUR HAND! That's so crazy it just might work. |
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Ever priced a die design? Costly. |
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You ain't kiddin' - insane fees, even for "modification" of dies for corrugate (cardboard) |
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Hmm.. take the X dollars involved in adding a few dimples to the current die design and divide that by the number of dies that could be produced from such design, then divide that by the number of beer can tops that can be stamped from such a die, and what do you get? $0.00!! |
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Dividing something repetitively doesn't make a cost disappear. |
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In my experience beer cans tend to be made of metal. So pushing down these blisters will be a little more strenuous than the equivalent action on soft drink cups. Also, anybody could take your beer and push down _all_ the blisters, claiming that was their idenitity code. |
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Don't drink beer. Orange soda! |
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I think JOTS has gotten a rough ride for a perfectly good idea. The cost may not be 0, but it's negligible, specially in this market. Interactive feature like this will give kids something to look busy / talk about while they're building the Dutch courage to ask Megan out. |
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Whilst frequenting particularly popular nightspots, I've always found that putting a napkin (paper or cloth) over my open drink saved it from being discarded by the bartender, marked my place at the bar, and prevented unthinking neanderthals from using my glass or container as an ash receptacle. Whether it was a Burger Barn, favorite local nightspot, or Michelin-rated Restaurant, I have yet to be charged for the napkin. |
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JohnnyOnTheSpot, have you ever in your life sat down with a person who is going to tell you how much that/those die(s) is/are going to cost, whether the die(s) is/are used or not? It ain't cheap, and you'll wish you had a beer when you got the news. The idea its elf is good, but it is naive to believe it's "free." |
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I have to agree with [ sctld ] - there's a first, I feel faint. I am going to go and have a lie down. (its the spiked drink problem) |
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Drink the beer. Nobody can pinch it then (without a stomach pump anyway) |
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//pushing down these blisters will be ... strenuous// |
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I may have a solution. "The Blister Popper", a metal lever for your keychain, that you use for the indentation. |
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//anybody could ... push down _all_ the blisters// |
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You'd of course need a "parity blister". The problem is, the number of drinks you imbibe is inversely proportional to the accuracy of blister popping and parity checking. But you also become increasingly less inclined to care. |
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why not just put chilli sauce in your beer, its sure to
taste disgusting but you will get used to it and nobody
else will touch your beer. Thanks sandman. |
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<old joke> Left a note next to my beer saying "I have spat in this drink". Came back and someone had written "So have I".Ba-dum tsst.<old joke> |
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// Dividing something repetitively doesn't make a cost disappear // |
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It doesn't ? Can you call round and explain that to our sales manager ? Please ? |
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"Division by zero error. Inadequate User. Please install upgraded User and/or World View and reboot" |
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You know those cute charms people have for their wine glasses? Those solve the same problem. Why not sell a set of "Beer Can Charms" with more appeal to the typical beer consumer. Sports team logos, little weapons, etc. These would work with beer in bottles, cans, or glasses. |
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Maybe this should be its own idea? Nah. |
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... a small pliable little plug of sorts that fits into the "pop top" lid or bottle and shaped like a little toilet seat cover---pretty similar to the pop top shape anyway. Oh. of course they could come in different colors to ease recognition. |
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used to have a really useful Swedish thing to hold drinks; leather strap around your neck, formed into a sort of sling, which holds your can/glass. Great during the party, only thing is that now I forget which cupboard I stored it in... |
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[lewisgirl], was that a Beer Bjorn? |
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I like to dent the edge of the can right below the mouth (where it angles up from the side to the top) to 'label' my can. I suppose if there are but 4 people drinking, you could each have a cardinal position on the can for yourself...however, I foresee drunken confusion: Was I right or left?!...ahhh, who cares! |
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Fact: In 2001, according to the Can Manufacturers Institute, about 217 billon metal beverage cans were produced World-wide, almost half of which are consumed in North America. Crown Cork & Seal Company lays claim to roughly 20% of this market. According to their 2001 financial report, roughly 33% of their $7.2 billion in total net sales, came from beverage cans sales. Doing the math, that means that Crown Cork must have supplied about 43 billion cans for about $2.4 billion in 2001. That's around 5.6 cents per can. |
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Other majors suppliers are Ball Corporation, Metal Container Corp (MCC), and Rexam. North America receives about half of the World's annual beverage can shipments, 106 billion in 2001. |
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Fact: Most beverage cans are 2-peice cans made from aluminum. To form the can (body), a cup is punched from a roll of metal, then drawn and ironed to stretch the sides up to form to a cylinder (with one end closed). The top of the can, call the "can end", is punched out in a separate process, then scored and fitted with the pull-tab. At the canneries, the cans are first filled with the product, then the can ends are fastened using a method where the metal is folded together to form a seal. |
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What I really hate is when I drank far too much beer the night before and I wake to find one of those huge, red, oozing, pus filled beer blisters on my lip. And they hurt. |
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jfromm, that's a good little trick that I've used myself. Another popular thing to do, at least around here, is to turn or twist the pull-tab so that it points in a certain direction. Using a clock face as reference and 12 o'clock being the normal pull-tab orientation, you could get 4-6 easily discriminating "times", though settings from 5 to 7 o'clock seem to interfere with consumption. But with such few positions, it not as easy to adopt one of your own without running into frequent collisions. |
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Perhaps the most efficient solution would be a return to those little baby bottles or half sized cans of beer. |
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Those of you who guzzle beer like fish drinking water don't have this problem, but some of us like to SIP our beer, and by the time we get to the bottom of the can it's warm! I saw some neet ideas in here, but none sound really practicel, (except MAYBE turning the pull tab. So to solve both problems, (identifying your drink AND keeping beer (or other canned beverage) cold, the SIMPLE soloution is to get one of those insulated can holders made of foam rubber and write your name on it! The rule here is KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid! :-} |
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One could have hollajam's pop top lid with an added lock, opened by key or combination. |
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Perhaps wearing gloves would solve the problem of too-cold beer and blisters due to frequent/agitated handling. |
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//opened by key or combination// or perhaps by lip recognition technology? |
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If you're drink enough to get your own drink combination, I'd think you'd be too drunk to care what bubbles are pressed down on your can. |
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