“Protect Yourself From Global Warming”

I recall when my regular coffee shop substituted their real coffee cups to a not-so-subtle advert. While stunned, I had never before seen such a concept and was incredible intrigued. Each day I would get my ‘on the way to work’ coffee and spend 15minutes reading about how I can get save on pharmaceuticals. After two weeks I was an expert on the properties of such medicines. If anybody noted the symptoms I offered valuable advice.

The coffee cup ad is brilliant marketing. I am sure you have all heard the rant “we are exposed to more than 3000 ads a day.” Yet how many of these do you stare at for 15 minutes? I don’t want to go too much into the bean of coffee cup advertising. Rather i wish to compliment its use in this campaign.

Unlike my pharmaceutical coffee, they have looked to collectively utilising the cup, the sleeve and ad copy. Although this is one of 3000 ads, you will spend15 minutes admiring the ingenuity.

However I cannot help but giggle at the hint of irony in using coffee. Craig Mackintosh from Celsias has been quoted to link coffee and global warming:

“If caffeine was an essential ingredient to bring about the Industrial Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution brought about global warming, then… that’s it… caffeine is bringing us to the brink of disaster!

Electricity, combined with caffeine, keeps us up late at night – when in pre-industrial times it would have been lights out hours ago. We’re no longer ‘burning the candle at both ends’, but rather the coal-fired power station that lights our homes and powers our televisions through the sunless hours.

And the next day – how does the day begin for most of us? Out of our beds we emerge like the walking dead from a B-grade zombie movie, until we reach for our kick-start-in-a-cup, and begin the cycle again.”

In no way do I believe this to be a fault of the campaign. In fact I doubt many would think of this in the 15 minutes. Rather regardless of whether you see it as ridiculous or not, it makes you think a little (and/or giggle).

Yet I cant help but wonder about another irony. What if the coffee tastes terrible and they throw it away? All that energy used to produce it was wasted, not to mention the failure to create 15 minutes of staring. Or even better, what if the coffee drinker fails to recycle the cup? I believe it will just go straight to land fill… (giggle).

Advertising Agency: KNARF New York, USA
Creative Director: Frank Anselmo
Copywriters: Kevin Honegger, Stephen Minasvand
Art Directors: Stephen Minasvand, Kevin Honegger, Frank Anselmo
Photographer: Billy Siegrist

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