It has been announced by organizers at this year’s South by Southwest Festival in Texas that a fleet of St Bernards will be patrolling the site with emergency batteries for festival goers to re-charge their smartphones.

What a world we live in when people A) cannot remember or make arrangements to make sure that their phones are charged themselves and B) we live with the anxiety that our phones may run out of battery.

There are good and bad points to this idea. It does bring harshly into light that we are so heavily reliant on technology, to the point where we cannot bear the thought of being without it. Also, St Bernards are working dogs that are used to helping people in the mountains but it’s sad that they are reduced to helping city-dwelling humans feed their technology addiction.

There are of course, many great points of this system. It’s clear that the whole message being sent by digital accessory manufacturer Mophie, who are running the system, is that the whole experience of being at a festival can be enhanced through social media. That is of course only possible with a charged device. There is also the safety aspect of being able to maintain contact with friends at the festival. No one likes to lose their group and this should mean that this is less likely.

Mophie are using this opportunity as a great viral campaign using Twitter. To summon one of the St Bernards at the festival, you will have to Tweet a screenshot of your mobile which is low on battery, along with the hashtag #mophieRescue. You will then receive a link to a map which shows the location of the nearest dog and be able to use it to navigate your way to them.

You have to admit, this is an extremely clever idea from Mophie. The system is fun to use and you get to meet an adorable St Bernard who will help you to re-attach your third arm. Anyone who uses the service, and has a positive experience will associate that good service with the company and that leads to a potential new customer and good word of mouth from them. Happy days.

Mophie are also very keen to point out the dogs serving festivalgoers have been provided by The St. Bernard Rescue Foundation and some of the fleet will also be available for adoption afterwards.

The system seems great, if a little exploitative but it does bring into question how much further our reliance on technology will go.