Hasta La Creative!

Starbucks is coming out with instant Coffee and calling it Via. Apparently, Starbucks wants to “prove they care” by providing an affordable alternative for the masses of coffee drinkers who would love to drink the seemingly addictive Starbucks coffee but cannot afford to acquire the four-dollars- a-cup habit.

Now the Starbucks empire plans to offer instant-coffee mix for only a buck a cup.  According to CNN, the Seattle-based coffee powerhouse is attempting to compete with companies such as McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts.  I wonder if they’ll be putting a playground into new Starbucks locations and offering cheap caffeine-infused burgers beside the expensive brownies in their display cases, too.

Starbucks chairman, Howard Schultz, explained that instant coffee actually accounts for approximately 40% of coffee sales globally. Starbucks clearly wants a piece of that action and is making the claim they are finally ready with a project that has been in the works for about 20 years and was the development of a micro-grind technology to preserve the flavor of freshly ground coffee.

Now that their mission of defeating the nature of the coffee bean has apparently come to successful fruition, they will be offering instant-coffee packets at Starbucks locations around the nation and in airports, hotels, and outdoor-camping retailers.

One has to wonder at the hilarity of the ad campaigns to follow the production of Via. Perhaps they will show desert-dwellers in the middle of the Sahara enjoying a fresh cup of delicious Starbucks coffee or sad college students who are about to fall asleep while writing term papers but suddenly realize that they have a dollar in their pocket. Images may be displayed of a Starbucks parking lot filled with rusty, old cars, and the commercial musical score will share the sound of a non-eco friendly vehicle whose muffler is coughing and sputtering out large clouds of smoke.

Certainly the television and Internet video opportunities are endless for marketing their new attempt to drive the public who would normally pull in and grab an Egg Mcmuffin and a cup of joe.

Now, you’ll type “buy cheap coffee” or “can’t afford coffee” or ”instant coffee that doesn’t suck” into an Internet search engine, and Starbucks will be displayed first and foremost among their new counterparts in the instant-coffee arena.

Alicia Crowder is a web content writer, copywriter, ghost writer, and book author who has been published for over 15 years in various journals and online websites.  She is also the owner of the SEO Web Content Writing Solution, based in Houston, Texas and partnered with other national SEO firms.