Costa Coffee is ditching the pumpkin spice latte in favour of a new flavour with a series of cheeky creatives in rebellion against the autumnal-coded drink.
In an attempt to break free from the traditional annual drink, the coffee brand has partnered with independent creative agency AnalogFolk to develop a campaign promoting its new autumn flavour, maple syrup.
Showcased across a range of social assets spanning every major platform, digital out-of-home is designed to challenge the yearly ‘pumpkin-crazy’ campaigns by other coffee brands.
’50 Ways to Leave Your Pumpkin Latte’ highlights some of the flavour-themed promotional brand collaborations and partnership ranges that appear at this time of year – from flavoured drinks and food to home décor and scents.
Partnering with a range of up-and-coming and established illustrators and collaborators, the creative assets encourage the public to ‘break up’ with the pumpkin flavour.
Positioned as an alternative to the seasonal drink, Costa’s new flavour features on some billboards alongside text that reads, “Enjoy a drink that tastes like a warm hug. Not a scented candle”.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
In addition to the posters, Costa Coffee has even created a Pumpkin Blocker’- a Google Chrome plug-in that customers can use to escape the pumpkin craze, by replacing every mention and image of pumpkin flavour with Costa’s autumn range.
“We’ve fallen head over heels for pumpkin spice wafting from just about every retailer during the autumn months but we want people to wake up and smell the coffee – pumpkins are for warding off evil spirits and soup, not hot beverages,” said AnalogFolk executive director Europe Colin Byrne.
“Every autumn pumpkin spice is everywhere, and we think it’s time for our amazing maple hazel range to take centre stage,” added Costa Coffee senior social media marketing manager Adam Deal.
“With this new, exciting integrated campaign we’re giving Britain 50 ways to leave their pumpkin latte and find a new latte love with maple hazel.”
