The world’s largest, high-tech message in a bottle, which is crossing the Atlantic and uploading pictures of its journey along the way, has gone missing after its satellite connection was lost.
The 30-foot-long bottle was created by Norwegian soft drink company Solo and sent on its journey on March 15th in Tenerife, in a bid to increase its popularity around the world.
The bottle contains a case of the ‘best soft drink in the world’, Solo from Norway, and a letter to the lucky person whose beach it will float up on.
Soft drink lovers are encouraged to guess where the bottle will end up in order to win the grand prize – one Solo per nautical mile the bottle drifts before hitting shore (which at the time of disappearance was a whopping 3,539 bottles; that’s a lot of soda…).
The bottle’s 360-degree camera takes pictures every eight hours and its state-of-the-art tracking equipment allows fans to follow its progress on an interactive map, as well as on Twitter@solosoftdrink.
However, after weeks of heavy storms, the company lost track of the giant bottle.
It is believed the bottle is somewhere in the Caribbean Islands and organisers are asking people in the area to keep an eye out and notify the soft drink company of its whereabouts.
Joakim Sande, CEO of Solo, said: “As soon as the bottle drifts ashore and the finder gives us a call, we will come right down and throw him or her a celebration party.
“We believe Solo is the best soda in the world, but unfortunately not enough people outside of Norway have had the chance to taste it yet. Deciding who should be the lucky ones to get a taste was too heartbreaking, that is why we decided to leave it to the ocean currents in the first place. With the satellite connection lost, it has become an even more authentic message-in-a-bottle and it will definitely be interesting to see where it comes ashore.”
If you have any relevant info about the bottle’s whereabouts call +47 22069480 or notify Solo on their Facebook page.
The world’s largest message-in-a-bottle was launched five months ago and was consequently voted the world’s best PR-stunt by adsoftheworld.com in April. It was expected to cross the Atlantic in about 70 days, but has taken its time – more than 150 days have passed so far.