McDonald’s has produced several funny adverts that contrast the customer experience at a comically overblown hipster coffee shops with the no-nonsense experience of getting a coffee from their McCafé.
It’s a classic advertising technique — portray your brand as the best option by contrasting it with an unfavourable representation of your competitors. It’s the “Should’ve gone to Specsavers…” approach.
It can be a risky approach — you don’t want to alienate any of your audience, after all — but McDonald’s know they’re in the clear here, as coffee drinkers who enjoy a V60 pour over were unlikely to frequent the McCafé. This advert knows its audience, making a joke that they’re bound to relate to and enjoy.
This is a predecessor to the Ball Pit McCafé advert, and as such it doesn’t escalate quite so much. However it’s still packed with comedy gems, our favourite being the barista informing the beleaguered customer that the WiF password is ‘fly high with your dreams’.