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Japan

Star Alliance Coffee

This morning on my way to Hamasaroma, I stopped off at 7-11 to grab a cold can of coffee for the road. I passed over the expensive and fattening Starbucks lattes-in-a-can and went toward the canned coffee. Since getting back to Japan last week, I’ve noticed some particularly well done commercials on TV for the Boss brand coffee “Zero no Choten.” They were at the top of the shelf and I went to grab one. They all had a special plastic cap on the top containing a bonus toy. I was sure it would be Pokemon or One Piece or something else that I don’t care about, but it was actually something kind of cool. Each can had a mini airplane, each with the livery of a different airline of the Star Alliance.

I bought two:

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I opened one of the cans and tasted it. Pretty good coffee in a can. I opened up the included pamphlet and was surprised that the planes come in all 18 different Star Alliance member airlines.

Then, I read further and realized that each plane had a wind up and release gear in it AND a magnet, so that you can wind up the plane, attach it to the side of the can, and watch it fly itself in circles around the can!

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Your purchase gives you a chance to win a round the world trip with Star Alliance, emphasizing that they are the largest of the major airline alliances (though probably not the best with the inclusion of United and US Airways) and can indeed take you around the world, just as easily as their miniature planes can fly around your coffee can!
It’s nothing short of marketing genius.

So, on the way home from work, I went back to 7-11 and cleaned them out, bringing my collection to 12 of the 18 collectible designs.

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Also, I guess there are two can packs that contain larger and nicer airplane models. I’ll be on the lookout for those!

(Note: This is my first post made entirely from my iPhone. Pretty neat!)

Update: I managed to find some of the two-can packs that contain a larger and more realistic steel model. There are six different types of model and I found five:

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