Edible billboards are a real thing, and these are made of beer and cake

With bartending robots and apps that allow you to pay for your coffee with a wave of your phone, why not have billboards with built-in samples? Edible billboards exist, and we’re waiting for more of them.

According to a new study in Mondo, as reported by Advertising Age, 80% of companies are boosting their digital marketing budgets. And over the last couple of years, three companies have gone beyond the print and TV ads to bring customers hands-on experiences. We’re thinking Don Draper would approve.

At the NCAA men’s Final Four in Indianapolis, Coke Zero built a 4,500-foot straw that dispensed Coke Zero from a billboard. The straw spelled out the words “Taste It,” and had six fountains that dispensed the soda.

In East London, Carlsberg beer created a similar experience with a beer-dispensing billboard. Knowing the billboard could be the best billboard ever, the words “Probably the best poster in the world,” were written across the front. After a quick ID check, people walking by could stop for a single glass of beer.

And Mr. Kipling, a large-scale British company that supplies baked goods to stores, built a billboard made entirely of cake and icing. Sugar artist Michelle Wibowo created the billboard using more than 13,000 pieces of cake. The cake, with the tagline “Life is better with cake,” was distributed to passersby.

Other items we wish would come free on a billboard include Nutella, pizza, wine and sushi. We know that last one could be tricky, so bonus points if you’re the one to do it.

Sometimes I dream I’m eating coconut cake with my hands. Follow me on Twitter @Jenn_Harris_