TOKYO - Thirsty Japanese will soon be able to drink coffee or other non-alcoholic beverages at a low price or even for free — as long as they watch a 30-second advertisement on the vending machines.

Vending machine operator Apex Corp. will start a service next month to turn its machines into a new medium for advertisers, who will pick up the partial or full cost of drinks.

Apex runs 35,000 vending machines across Japan that serve drinks in paper cups, generally priced at 70 to 120 yen (60 cents to one dollar) a cup.

Under the ‘MediCafe’ project, the vending machine will play an advertiser’s video for around the 30 seconds it takes to pour the drink and dispense a paper cup with an advertisement printed on it.

‘We will select the locations of vending machines which would best suit the customers targetted by advertisers,’ said an Apex company official.

Apex said some of its vending machines are at public places ideal for selective advertising such as supermarkets, amusement parks, office buildings and schools.

Apex is introducing the service jointly with advertising agency WillB Inc. The companies aim to generate about 400 million yen (3.34 million dollars) through the project in the year from June.

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