Transport for London (TfL) has been a pioneer of contactless payments for travel, first with the Oyster card and later with debit and credit cards, but this week commuters will be able to pay for a journey with something other than their cards.
Free Lucozade bottles with a contactless chip at the base are being handed out at Oxford Circus station and can be used to pay for a single journey on London’s subterranean railway network. Passengers simply tap the bottle at the gates as they were using a normal card.
The promotion is part of a wider marketing campaign for the energy drink on the tube, which involves billboard advertising and other elements.
“We are excited for Lucozade Energy to be able to launch this new campaign on the Tube,” said Ashleigh Roberts, senior brand manager at Lucozade Energy. “In a city that’s always on the go, we’re giving Londoners an extra opportunity to get where they need to be in a fun and unique way.”
More than one million journeys a day are paid for using contactless cards and the tube has been widely credited with popularising the technology across the UK as a whole.
Mastercard has previously offered free travel to those using Android Pay and Lucozade’s stunt shows the potential for future marketing opportunities using contactless payments.