If you think wine in drink vending machines is crazy, get a load of what China has started vending.
Yep, that’s right: Live crabs. They’re kept alive but sedated at 5°C (41°F) and sell for about $2 a pop. The machines have been installed at various underground rail stations in Nanjing. According to the Telegraph, “A sign next to the machine offers three free crabs for anyone who is unlucky enough to get a dead one, the local ‘Guangzhou Daily’ newspaper reported.
“‘The customers were a bit sceptical at first as they were worried if the crabs were alive or not,'” Wu Zhendi, general manager of the Twin Lake Crab Co. told The Telegraph, “‘but now they see they are alive, they keep coming back. We are selling hundreds each day, and more at weekends.'”
First it was eggs in Japan, now this. What’s next? Fried tarantulas in Thailand? Live octopus in Korea? Maybe Vietnam will take a page out of Pennsylvania’s book and start selling snake wine in their drink vending machines. How long will it take this trend to hit the United States? And if it does, how long will it take PETA to sue the government for allowing it?