I'll give Nestlé credit; this ad for "natural" Coffee-Mate creamer is getting tons of earned media. And it would need to, since the Coffee-Mate brand has long stood for "non-dairy creamer."
So, to show people that this new product has real dairy in it, they body-painted "nude" baristas (and a few customers) in a coffee shop in what looks to be an experiential stunt:
"Boobs," get it? Natural dairy. Ha ha. But at least they involved men as well in this gag. They even made a point of sexually objectifying the guy more bluntly, although this is hardly progressive.
It's not that bold of an idea, though. Topless coffee bars were a fad out west a few years ago, and public nude body painting stunts go back decades.
But then again, advertising ain't art. It's about getting attention and triggering recall. This ad achieves the former, and might achieve the latter if people can forget a lifetime of associations between Coffee-Mate and unnatural coffee whiteners.
It's also a very American brand ad, which takes full advantage of that country's weird relationship with nudity. As many celebrities' Instagram drama has shown, nude buttocks are perfectly acceptable to the American general public, while women's nipples are not. Take a closer look at the video, and you'll note that not only are the "nude" actors wearing thongs, but the women are oddly nipple-less while the men are not.
It's the same thing that you see on TV, with shows like Naked and Afraid — lots of tease with nude bodies from the rear, with all genitals and female nipples blurred out. Considering all of the real nudity on the internet, this PG sexuality is simultaneously exploitative and bland. In other words, not really "natural" at all.
It's from Italy, so of course the food, the women, and the design look great. The image above, in which the chef looks like he's about to prepare Little Mermaid alla vicentina, is part of a promotional calendar for one of Italy's biggest coffee companies.
The calendar features famous chefs from around Italy — all men — occasionally decorated with beautiful women posed as props representing their key ingredients:
Risotto, get it?
Not the most scandalous calendar to come out of a country renowned for scandalous calendars. But that mermaid shot still creeps me out.
Having scantily clad women serve drive through coffee in the middle of winter is apparently a thing in the State of Washington. Grab-N-Go is one of these things, offering "entertainment with surprisingly superb tasting espresso".
Last Wednesday, Grab-N-Go made the local news in Everett, Washington, for the arrest of three baristas for "exhibition and exposure". According to police, the women (one of whom is only 16) were offering customers even more exposed views of their bodies for cash.
This isn't the first time women at the coffee stand chain have been accused of crossing the line between exploiting their sexuality to sell coffee and actual sex work. In 2009, five different baristas were charged with stripping, allowing customers to touch them, and "whip cream shows".
In a bizarre case, the owner of the chain, Bill Wheeler, went missing in Las Vegas a few months later. His family fought over the business and his son, Bill D. Wheeler Jr., eventually took over.
Like his father before him, Bill Jr. denies any wrongdoing. He told local media that he enforces strict policies for his six baristas, including no drug use, no flashing, and no personal visitors at the stands.
"They have to be dressed a certain way," he said. "Their crotch has to be covered up. They can't expose their areolas."
On his company Facebook page, however, he was a little more defiant:
We feel this incident is a publicity stunt by the Everett PD for unjustifiable reasons.
Our policy and procedures strictly state any employee engaging in lewd or inappropriate behavior will be terminated. We also have a zero tolerance policy for drug's as well.
As always when it comes to any government agency question everything. We also thank all of our customers for there support and the Everett policy [police?] department for the free press in yet another waste of our tax payers money.
Free press, indeed. The article went international within a couple of days. Do a Google News search for "Grab-N-Go" and you'll get a bunch of mainstream media hits with headlines like "Busty Baristas Busted" with lots and lots of pictures.
It's a sleazy business operator's dream. Nobody can resist a story about sex, especially when young women are involved. (Yes, I know I am part of the problem here, no matter what I think my intentions are.)
But you have to wonder how much the owner of the business is responsible for the actions of the employees, policy or not, when he promotes his business like this:
Via Facebook
And sells merch like this:
Via Grab-N-Go
Sleazy or not, the Grab-N-Go owner may have a point about the timing of the arrests being a bit of a conspiracy. According to the Seattle Times, the 2009 arrests came on the same day as a public hearing was scheduled on a proposed update to Everett's lewd-conduct ordinance "which would declare drive-up windows a public place, making it illegal for someone to expose their breasts and genitals." While it's understandable that citizens don't want to accidentally see live sex shows at public coffee stands, the obsessive American War On Breasts seems to be complicating the issue.
Via Facebook
The current Everett Municipal Code actually mentions drive-through windows specifically. I'm exerpting it at length because it's kind of interesting.
A. A “lewd act” is: 1. An exposure of one’s genitals, anus, or any portion of the areola or nipple of the female breast; or 2. The touching, caressing or fondling of the genitals or female breasts; or 3. Masturbation; or 4. Sexual conduct. B. “Public place” means an area generally visible to public view, and includes streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, parking lots, automobiles (whether moving or not), and buildings open to the general public, including those which serve food or drink or provide entertainment, and the doorways and entrances to buildings or dwellings and the grounds enclosing them, and businesses contained in structures which can serve customers who remain in their vehicles, by means of a drive-up window. C. “Sexual conduct” means sexual intercourse or any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person done for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire of either party, whether such persons are the same or opposite sex. D. For purposes of this chapter, any activity is obscene: 1. Which the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, when considered as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and 2. Which explicitly depicts or describes patently offensive representations or descriptions of: a. Ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; or b. Masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, bestiality, excretory functions or lewd exhibition of the genitals or genital area; or c. Violent or destructive sexual acts including but not limited to human or animal mutilation, dismemberment, rape or torture; and 3. Which, when considered as a whole, and in the context in which it is used, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. For purposes of this chapter, an activity is dramatic if the activity is of, relating to, devoted to, or concerned specifically or professionally with current drama or the contemporary theater.
10.24.020 Lewd conduct. A. A person is guilty of lewd conduct if he or she intentionally performs any lewd act in a public place or under circumstances where such act is likely to be observed by any member of the public. The act of breastfeeding or expressing breast milk is not lewd conduct.
I'm no lawyer, but I'm assuming the parts I bolded are why the baristas are being charged under "Soliciting for a lewd act": Every person who solicits another to engage in a lewd act in a public place shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
If I had a business like this, I suppose I'd feel targeted too. (Not to mention feeling like I really needed a shower.)
But then again, considering the target market, you just can't buy this kind of publicity:
I noticed a colleague viewing this campaign on Ads of The World, and my first thought was "what gorgeous art direction!" Then I read the headline.
The wordplay on black things and "black" people is common in advertising. I even saw it used in a local campaign in Barbados, where Afro-Caribbean people are in the vast majority. Brazil is also a multicultural country, with many people of African origin. So I ask you, is my discomfort with this campaign simply a matter of white Canadian guilt?
For me, the ads are puzzling. It could be that there was something lost in translation. Are they saying that their coffee is "more black" than the jazz musicians they portray? Than the music they're playing?
Blackness in coffee isn't just about not having cream or milk. It also refers to roast and brew strength. So their coffee is more intense?
I don't know. Some other cultures seem to be far more comfortable using a broad term for dark skin colour, culture and/or ancestral origin (whether code for "FUBU" or "other") as a throwaway ad gag. But for me it's bad enough labelling people, based on assumptions about "race," in casual conversation. I don't need brands reinforcing a bad habit.
I'm a bit of a coffee snob, but that's about origin, and whether it's organic, shade-grown and Fairtrade. Instead, most "gourmet" coffee chains prefer to make consumers think they're getting a better cup by using Italian and fake-Italian terms on the menu.
Debenhams department store in the UK has had enough of that nonsense. After a customer survey told them that 70% found the coffee menu confusing, they dropped the continental pretentions and chose to promote a plain English version:
The change brings Tim Hortons sizes more in line with American chains, that have phased out the 236 mL “small” cups, and competitors including Starbucks, Second Cup and McDonalds.
They are, obviously, responding to customer demand. But is it really a good idea? I've had that much coffee in one sitting before, sure. But I drink mine black. Imagine the amount of cream and sugar it takes to make one of these as sweet and creamy as the traditional "double double" — quadruple quadruple? Quintuple quintuple?
Hey, do what you want with your life. But please don't fool yourself into thinking that getting a coffee like this every day, with the fat and calories that go with it, isn't going to weigh heavily on your health. (While we're at it, I guess we had better recalibrate clothing sizes again too.)
After pissing off Mattel with his previous bizarre coffee ad (in which he has a conversation with Barbie's disembodied head) David Lynch has just decided to rip off himself in this new one:
I get that this ad by Leo Burnett, Hong Kong, supposed to be funny. But if the bus driver is in such bad shape, I don't think another cup of coffee is the answer. As both a parent and a road safety social marketer, I hate being reminded of real life problems like this in a silly consumer ad.
This supercut of old coffee ads puts a spotlight on the onetime acceptance of men being total dicks and women defining themselves through domestic talents:
