Light-up cereal boxes

I saw this in a CES coverage post the other day: light-up cereal boxes.  Basically there’s some kind of printable electronics in the box paired with induction technology delivering power from the shelf:

It’s from Fulton Innovation (more info on what they do from Engadget) and it’s admittedly the least useful aspect of their tech relative to everything else they’ve got going on but that usually means it’ll get picked up the fastest (is there a Law for that phenomenon?  Can I have it then?)

Lights on the shelf don’t interest me that much, though the cereal aisle is already plenty colourful and something like this could actually turn it into a replica of Times Square…  I like the idea of “hiding” messages in the boxes though for reveals elsewhere in the store – like you’d take the box from the shelf and bring it somewhere else to see the message, and then since it’s in your hand anyway, maybe you’ll buy it.  The grocery store might be the wrong market for this though – too many people leave stuff everywhere as it is, so it’d be more likely that there’d be a huge pile of boxes at the scanning station.

It might be an interesting gimmick for coupons – lots of stores do scratch tickets at checkout for an overall discount, but what if it was embedded directly on the product and the reveal came when the item was scanned, not on the register but right on the packaging?  Sure, you’d probably want different bar codes to aid in redemption, and people would just learn to look for the cheapest ones, but hear me out – bar codes that only show up under induction!

Anyway, there’s something there, if not in the store then maybe outside, or in your own home.  Fulton is making stuff that can adapt existing kitchens, but I already have an induction cooktop that does great things but I’m not normally using all 4 burners, and I was fine with that until now but all of a sudden it feels wasteful.  What else can I set on those elements to entertain or inform myself while I cook?