Real Mars bars for virtual friends

Last summer we wrote about a Facebook application that lets users of the popular social network send real flowers to their virtual friends, and now The Light Agency has expanded on that idea with a Mars-branded widget that makes it possible to send real candy. Launched on Valentine’s Day, Celebrate allows UK users of Facebook to choose from a range of Mars confectionery gifts from the Celebrate Sweet Shop online. To send one, they simply select a friend, add a message and pay for the gift via tokens on their PayPal account. A message is sent to the gift recipient requesting their mobile number, and a unique Celebrate Voucher ID and gift details are then sent to them via SMS text. To collect the gift, the recipient just visits one of more than 12,500 participating PayPoint retailers and shows the Celebrate Voucher ID. As the lines dividing the real and virtual worlds continue to blur, consumers will increasingly value the ability to bring niceties like real-world gift-giving to the virtual realm. With just a few contenders so far, the sky’s still the limit on opportunities—one to get in on early! Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen