This was the caption for an unusual photo of a vending machine posted by Twitter user たほ Taho (@jtkh1237).

There was definitely something strange about this machine.

After posting the puzzling photo below, she received many comments, such as: "What the heck is going on?"

For our readers who are unfamiliar with Japanese vending machines, many of them sell hot drinks during the colder months of the year. When they do, they invariably have red or blue labels beneath each drink with the words "warm" or "cold" in Japanese.

However, for some reason, this particular vending machine was selling the popular energy soda "Oronamin C," which comes in small 4 oz. glass bottles, as a hot beverage!

Although drinking a hot grog of soda and lemon is relatively common in some parts of the world, when it comes to vending machine offerings, most Japanese people expect to find carbonated beverages in the "cold" section, the exception perhaps being that one time when Hot Ginger Ale appeared in 2013.

How would hot Oronaminc C taste like? How would you even be able to hold the glass bottle if it's hot? These may have been some of the questions in Taho's mind as she pondered what to do, before finally deciding to go for it. She put her money in the machine and pressed the button.

What came out was just an ordinary, cold "Oronamin C."

In a follow-up comment, Taho said, "I was relieved to get a cold one, but at the same time, I had mixed feelings of disappointment..."

Some of the other comments elicited by the erroneously labeled soda were:

Some people also noted that they had a similar experience, but unlike Taho, they really did get a hot bottle of energy soda when they pushed the button!

As you can probably imagine, the reason behind all of this probably has more to do with human error than any intentional marketing ploy by the beverage makers.

If you ever encounter such a case, why not test your luck and see what happens!