Random love: massively popular Hong Kong capsule vending machine dispenses dates for $2.55

Pop in a couple of coins and crank away for the date of your life.

Capsule vending machines in Japan spit out all manner of toys with the simple twist of a dial, ranging from little Buddha statues to oddly cute banana peels. There’s much fun to be had in anticipating what lies within the plastic egg.

A new type of capsule machine in Hong Kong, however, has taken the beloved gachapon concept to another level. Initially set up outside of a small pet store in Hong Kong, each plastic capsule contains contact details of singles looking for love. All one has to do is to feed the machine HK$20 (US$2.55) and crank for a potential date.

▼ It has since spread to other stores.

Ben Tang is the owner of the store and manages the “Fate Capsule” vending machines — there are separate ones for men and women — in his free time. He had seen the concept taking off in Taiwan, and borrowed the idea as a way to connect people together through the crankings of fate.

Single candidates hoping to leave contact details in the capsules are required to fill out information such as name, age, height, weight, hobbies, and a brief self-introduction in an online Google document. It takes Tang and his girlfriend up to five hours a day to contact these individuals and verify their authenticity, an extremely thorough and arduous process.

He also contacts people who purchase the capsules, offering them the option of putting the information back in the machines should they not meet someone they like.

The Fate Capsule machines were installed right before Valentine’s Day this year. Thanks to their playful and cute nature, the machines quickly garnered attention across the country as people began sharing their experiences on social media.

▼ It came to the point where Tang decided to limit the number of capsules dispensed.

“I can easily sell more than 1,000 capsules every single day if I want to,” Tang said in an interview. “But I’d rather not. I like to see people come by casually when they are free. It feels more destined.”

Tang has since dialed back the speed of capsule blind dating to increase the chances of success. “If dozens of people add you in one day, you will feel nothing but disturbed. But I want them to have enough time to really know each other,” he said.

▼ A YouTuber documents her purchase and subsequent blind date.

Despite its massive success, the service has been criticized by unsatisfied customers who complain that communication with their dates were abruptly cut off. Private contact details have also been accidentally disclosed in YouTube videos.

Nevertheless, the concept of dating using capsule machines took off in Hong Kong, with other businesses coming up with their own Fate Capsules. Tang doesn’t mind the competition.

“Sometimes it is really hard to simply get a proper date in Hong Kong. Every time I hear about a successful match, I feel like I really helped someone,” he said. Same-sex capsule machines are already in the works.

Blind dating using plastic capsules might sound a little odd, but it’s also strangely cute, arguably much preferable to attending bizarre matchmaking parties in Japan. And if it does turn out well, it’ll be an awesome love story to tell the kids one day.

Source: ON.CC, Coconuts Hong Kong via Oddity Central
Top image: Instagram/fatecapsule

Credit: