Nothing Comes Before Coffee
McDonald’s McCafe TV commercial: “Nothing Comes Before Coffee: Mom” caught my eye
while watching Broad City on Comedy Central. In the 30 second clip, we can see mom sitting
down in a playground while her children are screaming and trying to get her attention, she raises
her finger to indicate a pause, then she sips her coffee and the pause actually happens, and we
can hear a voice saying “Nothing comes before coffee” when she stops sipping the coffee the
kids start screaming again, immediately she sips again and her kids pause once more, after that
we can see McDonald’s cups with coffee in the making while they introduce their new espresso
drinks, the last scene is her sitting peacefully nodding her head while the kids scream.
I really liked this advertisement because it showcases real problems that moms have and I think
they can relate to that. Maybe next time that a mom is heading out to the playground with her
children she’ll think of having coffee before and stop at McDonald’s because she related to the
commercial or because she thought it was funny. They used a very simple truth, a lot of people
need coffee to kickstart their day, and made it real and relatable.
As we learned in Chapter 3, McDonald’s is one of the brands that is in the retentive stage when it
comes to advertising which means that it retains its patronage merely on the strength of its past
reputation, which I think makes it easier for them to introduce a product that is a little bit
different from what they usually do.
This brings me to the concept of a brand extension, which is a new product introduction under an
existing brand. And what I think McDonald’s is doing. They are moving away from what they
are known for which is hamburgers, fries and milkshakes and trying to enter into a new market
without leaving their old market. They are adding to the current brand. McDonald’s is not selling
a simple cup of black coffee, they are selling specialized espresso drinks made with high quality
coffee, from high quality coffee beans. When thinking about the advantages and disadvantages
of brand extension, I think that McDonald’s has more advantages. I don’t see a disadvantage