• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, May 2, 2013

The process of making Facebook friends promises to get even easier (and possibly a lot more superficial and promiscuous) with the invention of the “Buddy Cup,” which incorporates a microchip and QR code to let you friend someone simply by bumping glasses with them.

Developed for Budweiser Brazil by advertising agency Agencia Africa and design firm Bolha, the cup has a QR code on the bottom which barflies can scan with their smartphone, using a special app from Budweiser which links the cup to their Facebook profile. Once linked up, all they have to do is bump cups with other Buddy Cup owners to automatically become friends (apparently without needing to send or confirm friend requests, although I’m not entirely clear on this part). The Buddy Cup has a red LED on its side that flashes to confirm that the friend has been added.

The Buddy Cup is obviously a very cute idea, and it’s easy to imagine it being a hit in places with a heavy emphasis on socializing, meeting new people, and getting tanked, like Brazil or frat parties. But at the risk of being a Debbie Downer/curmudgeon (I know, too late, right?) I have to wonder: what if someone you really don’t want to be Facebook friends with wants to bump cups with you? It’s one thing to remotely receive a friend request from someone you find intolerable, which you must then either rudely ignore or confirm followed immediately by blocking them. But having to actually make these decisions in person, possibly while inebriated, strikes me as even more awkward.

The solution, clearly, is some kind of “block” or “fake friend” button on the side of the Buddy Cup, which you can push unobtrusively with your thumb while bumping cups in order to negate the bump -- a “Buddy Cup bump dump thumb button,” perhaps?