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Dennis Paul

 

Pop wasn’t the only free gift students got on Oct. 20.

They also got a hug from the vending machine that dispensed it.

Dennis Paul, a heating ventilation and air conditioning student, was among the few that were rewarded with a drink for hugging the customized vending machine.

“Do I need to get my leg into it?” said Paul.

Grappling with the red contraption brought in by Coca-Cola Canada, which partners with the college’s food services, Paul wondered out loud what he had to do to land a free drink.

“There’s 24 cases of 24 cans of pop,” said Lisa Barker, the marketing and conference sales coordinator at Algonquin. “That means 576 hugs are given.”