Media The era of the eye-catching "SonntagsBlick" boxes is coming to an end
After this Sunday, the SonntagsBlick vending machines (pictured in Muri near Bern) will come to an end. It is no longer worthwhile for Ringier to operate them.
Image: Keystone
The eye-catching newspaper boxes have long been part of the village and cityscape, as here in Bern's Matten district.
Image: Keystone
After this Sunday, the SonntagsBlick vending machines (pictured in Muri near Bern) will come to an end. It is no longer worthwhile for Ringier to operate them.
Image: Keystone
The eye-catching newspaper boxes have long been part of the village and cityscape, as here in Bern's Matten district.
Image: Keystone
On Sunday, the Ringier newspaper vending machines will be filled with the "SonntagsBlick" for the last time. In German-speaking Switzerland, the eye-catching boxes have long characterized the townscape.
27.07.2024, 08:27
SDA
Ringier once operated around 3200 boxes. "At the best of times, we sold up to 100,000 newspapers per Sunday," Ringier media spokesperson Michele Paparone told the Keystone-SDA news agency. "Blick" was also available from vending machines between 1988 and 2009.
However, the change in reading habits led to the end of the vending machines. Ringier only had 938 boxes in use at the end. In an interview with the industry magazine "Persönlich", Ringier spoke of a sales figure in the "low four-digit range". After the last Sunday in July, these vending machines will also be dismantled.
Launched as early as 1969
The boxes were part of the village scene in German-speaking Switzerland for a long time. Ringier started using them back in 1969 - when it launched the "SonntagsBlick" newspaper. The current model has been in use since 2006. Until 2015 and 2016, the eye-catching red and yellow boxes were still in competition with Tamedia and NZZ.
According to Paparone, the vending machines have long served a customer need in rural regions and conurbations. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, when Sunday sales were banned, newspaper sales were reasonably regulated thanks to the vending machines. However, the reasons for running them for so long no longer apply: "Reading habits have changed dramatically again. The vending machines can no longer be operated economically," says the media spokesperson.
A vending machine as a false lightning box
So soon all that will remain are anecdotes about the eye-catching newspaper boxes. There are quite a few, says Paparone. For example, that a vending machine was placed in a garden because of a dispute between neighbors. Or that the lake police once fished one out of the water.
The "SonntagsBlick" vending machines were a popular target, especially during Carnival: some reappeared, others disappeared for good. Some were offered for sale on the online marketplace Ricardo without Ringier's consent. However, disused vending machines were also popular as bar cabinets or garden lanterns.
Last but not least, a prankster also caused a stir on the Internet when he falsified a picture of a newspaper box as a speed trap. In 2011, 2012 and 2014, there was great excitement about the "lightning box".
