comparison of two ads - coffee-shops

For this comparison I chose coffee-shops as I spend a lot of time in them but haven't really thought about their advertising methods until now.

First we'll take a look at a TV commercial for Starbucks:



The commercial starts with the image of a regular guy sitting at a table sipping his Frappucino, "Come Fly WIth Me" playing in the background.  A cute blonde girl reaches into the fridge for a Mocha, the music swells, and suddenly she sees the real Michael Bublé serenading her everywhere.  The regular guy turns into Bublé, his magazine cover comes to life, Bublé is a window-washer, the delivery man with a bouquet becomes Bublé with a rose just for her.  This commercial really tries to sell escapism in a bottle - the idea that if you purchase this chilled coffee drink you'll be able to "fly away" from your boring routine and take a more fulfilling break.  They don't ever mention the drink itself or how it tastes.  There is anchoring at the end of the commercial:  "Starbucks Frappucino coffee drink.  It's you time."

This anchoring emphasizes the branding and the message that getting a Starbucks drink will take you on a mini-vacation.

The next TV ad is for another favorite coffee-shop of mine, Second Cup:



It's interesting how similar this ad is, even though it's from the year 2000 and the Starbucks ad came at least 5 years later.

The commercial is short and simple - a woman sits in a crowded shop sipping her coffee, a voiceover relating her thoughts, as she makes a few observations about the people around her.  She wonders about another woman's accent, a couple sitting nearby, and an attractive man.  The screen goes black and words in white appear at the bottom of the screen, the tagline "take a second for yourself", anchoring the message of the commercial.  It ends with the company logo appearing in a cup of black coffee.

Again, there is no reference to the product itself or how it tastes.  It is interesting when the food industry produces ads that don't actually mention food but these ads work by giving you a sense of how you feel when you're consuming the food.  This woman is in a busy coffee-shop but she is still and quiet, her voice in the voiceover is calm and soothing, she sips her coffee slowly and seems to be relishing it - this indirectly communicates that the coffee is tasty. Second Cup wants to draw in customers by painting a picture of a coffee oasis that you can escape to during your busy day.

The Starbucks ad works on the same level, emphasizing the relaxing feeling of drinking a Frappucino instead of how the drink actually tastes.  These ads work by selling an image of a lifestyle instead of promoting their product.