I thought the Nathan’s 4th of July hot dog eating contest was a bad idea, but this one takes the cake. Make that the Ding Dongs, or the Starbursts, or the Twinkies, or the Corn Nuts, or…well, actually I guess it’s all of the above:

On Tuesday, March 20th, 2007, teams of brave competitors will go head-to-head in the world’s only competitive eating vending machine event. This contest unites gastronomical expertise, speed eating, physical dexterity, athletic skill, and sheer consumption strategy. Each team must rise to the following task: to consume the entire contents (minus packaging) of a standard vending machine. Upon the referee’s signal the competitors will be given a stockpile of dollar bills and change, and begin feeding currency into their machines while carefully selecting their eating approach.

The first team to successfully eat the the entire contents of the vending machine will be declared the winner.

Even if this were a charity to help save the gay baby seals from breast cancer, I wouldn’t want to be a loser, let alone the winner. However, I’d love to watch it; tickets to the event for non-members of LVHRD are $22.

LVHRD Announces the Master-Disaster Vending Machine Challenge II [lvhrd.org]