McDonald's Ad Tries to Put Down Starbucks: Hit or Miss?

October 4, 2008

In one of its not-so-subtle new commercials, McDonald's uses a conversation between two women to attack the stereotypical Starbucks culture. Does the commercial succeed in making you want to try McDonald's coffee, or does its snotty portrayal of Starbucks rub you the wrong way?

25 Comments

Witchy Ways 4 years 32 weeks

Oh you poor stupid woman, finally you can enjoy the emptiness of your brain by being completely ignorant in an ignorance-friendly environment!

cupcakers 4 years 32 weeks

Um I definitely don't wear heels at Starbucks. I've always hated McDonald ads, I think they're horrible plus I am not fond of McDonalds.

CoralAmber 4 years 32 weeks

LOL javsmav! Sartre on tape... hilarious.

javsmav 4 years 32 weeks

That's true. The stereotypical intellectual coffee house patron is not hanging out at Starbucks--they are at an independent coffee house. For goodness sakes, they have DRIVE THRU Starbucks--are the customers intellectuals who pause their Sartre on tape to place an order for a soy vanilla latte? No, they are soccer moms in big ass SUVs with screaming children in the back seat. Starbucks is as ordinary & commercial as McDonalds.

Abbigail 4 years 32 weeks

So true RockandRepublic. I would group Starbucks and McDonalds together, two big corporations trying to make a buck. Please don't be so pathetic to think that those who buy Starbucks are intellectually superior to people who get their coffee at McD's. Find a local coffee house and support local businesses, in my experience they are better anyway.

RockAndRepublic 4 years 32 weeks

And I don't think of Starbucks as necessarily "refined" or intellectual. Thank you! Drinking Starbucks is just that, It has no bearing on one's intellect. Furthermore, Pot meet Kettle. McDonalds serves exceedingly bad and fattening food, Starbucks serves coffee that also contain a lot of calories and sugar. Either way it's not good.

bibliophile 4 years 32 weeks

"So let me get this straight, these women are sick of pretending to be intellectual ladies and thank God that McDonald's has lattes so they can finally be 'regular' American women? Is that the message? In other words, they want to be idiots." I'm so with you, pinky tuscadero. Not only does McDonald's serve crappy, unhealthy food, but it's also contributing to the "dumbing-down" of American culture. Reason #229 why I don't eat at McDonald's.|

cageyme 4 years 32 weeks

I don't get it when the girl says she wants to be able to show her knees. What does that mean? The one with the 2 guys is funnier.

deanna024 4 years 32 weeks

I'm just wondering if people will "get" this is a McDonald's ad while flipping through the stations. Normally, McDonald's ads employ brighter colors and their characteristic reds and yellows. By setting this in a drabber coffee shop, I don't think it makes a strong visual connection to the McDonald's brand. Maybe it they had the women go to a McDonald's store for their coffee at some point in the commercial, it would have worked better.

californiagirlx7 4 years 32 weeks

ok, the quality of this video is really bad, but did the girl say she's excited to go to McDonald's b/c she can wear heels? Yeah I didn't understand this either. Why would you wear heels to McDonald's anyway? And I don't think of Starbucks as necessarily "refined" or intellectual. I'll walk in there with my sweats on and say hi to all of the people who work there. And the quality of this video was terrible.

Spectra 4 years 32 weeks

I couldn't get the audio to work on the ad, but I think I get the idea. Since when do only rich snobs drink Starbucks? I don't usually buy my coffee (I prefer to make my own because it's way the hell cheaper than buying it every day), but I think it's pretty ridiculous that McDonald's is trying to promote being a schmo that just wants a latte. Shouldn't they be trying to work a different angle? Like, say, that you'd be SMARTER to drink a McD's coffee because it's cheaper than Starbucks? Or something like that.

Brendelwoman 4 years 32 weeks

I couldn't get it to play, but I did like the male version McDonalds had put out. So yes, I did go and try their lattes and I have to say so far it's a hit or miss thing. They get the order wrong most of the time. If you get syrup, they put way too much in. I think they really need to train their workforce if they want it to be successful.

Kelly O 4 years 32 weeks

I don't think trying to "dumb down" is going to get them anywhere in selling coffee, and insinuating that you have to have this certain image to go to Starbucks (or your local coffee shop) is a huge turn off. I'll just keep hitting up my favorite local coffee shops, thanks.

ivygreene 4 years 32 weeks

Are these ads really trying to get people to take pride in not knowing things like Basic Geography? Hey I'm all for people selling a product whos low price gives it mass appeal, but we shouldn't have to dumb ourselves down for it! insulting!

bluebird 4 years 32 weeks

I've had Starbucks coffee and McDonald's coffee, and I'll take Starbucks any day. McDonald's coffee is just coffee powder and water with a hella lot of sugar. At least at Starbucks I can get a soy drink that's sugar-free if I want.

looseseal 4 years 32 weeks

I'll just keep not drinking coffee. This might vary by location, but McD's coffee at the branches near me taste like petroleum. I've managed never to taste Starbucks coffee, so can't comment on that. Those lines about heels are just bizarre.

Pistil 4 years 32 weeks

I agree with hellokitty and pinky... what's wrong with having interests outside of mass media & popular culture? Not that I drink coffee from either place.

Jude C 4 years 32 weeks

I heard one of these commercials on the radio, and just thought it was irritating. It's like McDonald's is trying to invent this Starbucks culture that doesn't even exist. Also, McDonald's coffee drinks all suck. Yuck.

pinky tuscadero 4 years 32 weeks

So let me get this straight, these women are sick of pretending to be intellectual ladies and thank God that McDonald's has lattes so they can finally be "regular" American women? Is that the message? In other words, they want to be idiots. How refreshing. McDonald's should concentrate on making their food more digestible instead of making specialty drinks. Leave that to the pros! I think it's a miss. :rant:

lickety split 4 years 32 weeks

i can't get it to play for me. and i don't drink coffee. but my dad likes that mcdonalds has .59 cent coffee for seniors everyday. and here that packs the place.

HelloAnia 4 years 33 weeks

That's kind of a turn off. It's like taking a stab at cultured, educated people. Well, I know where Paraguay is and I listen to jazz... so I guess it's Starbucks for me, thanks for the break down McDs.

sarasonne 4 years 33 weeks

I thought the other version of this commercial with two guys was funnier.

javsmav 4 years 33 weeks

ok, the quality of this video is really bad, but did the girl say she's excited to go to McDonald's b/c she can wear heels? I don't get this. Anyway, I'm going to get coffee where it's convenient. Starbucks is convenient, McDonald's isn't. Also, McDonald's smells really bad, so even if they do make delicious coffee, I don't want to walk into that grease pit to order one.

hippiecowgirl 4 years 33 weeks

I don't do Starbucks so I think the mocking tone is funny. However, I don't do McD's either so it does nothing to make me want to try their coffee either.

ilanac13 4 years 33 weeks

i'm kind of undecided about this one. i can't say that ads like this ever sway my decision or influence me at all in making my choices on where to go. even if it were an OUTSTANDING commercial, i can't say that i would change where i get my coffee from.

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