Gigantic billboards are so last century. The globe's multinationals, desperate to thrust their logos in our faces, have advertised on roadsides, train tickets and all over our Facebook feeds. But now, it seems, the world is not enough.
Japanese beverage company Otsuka, maker of Pocari Sweat (perhaps the world's most unfortunately named soft drink), is sending its advertising to where none has ventured before: the moon.
When space aficionados drafted the Outer Space Treaty in 1967 they forgot to regulate for the involvement of corporations. Perhaps, back then, the idea of a drinks company having the spending power to be able to go into space was simply out of this world.
It's a loophole Otsuka is making the most of. Project Lunar Dream, should it succeed, will constitute the galaxy's first moon landing by a private enterprise. The beverage company plans to team up with United States-based firm Astrobotic Technology to send a capsule to the moon in the shape of a Pocari Sweat can.
Besides carrying Pocari Sweat in powdered form, the titanium "can" will also carry plates engraved with messages, or "dreams", from children from all over Asia. Copies of the "dream ring" needed to unlock the capsule will be given to those whose messages are included.
