In Seattle, right near Starbucks’ headquarters, McDonald’s makes it very plain how they feel:
From The The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Earlier this year, McDonald’s started unsnobbycoffee.com to promote the launch of espresso drinks in the Seattle market.
Will Starbucks respond in kind? Unlikely.
While the coffee wars received much media and Wall Street trumpeting this year, Starbucks has been mostly silent, maintaining that its customer base is different.
See if you buy this reasoning for the above billboard:
The fact that “four bucks” sort of rhymes with “Starbucks” is not on purpose, said John Livengood, executive creative director at DDB Seattle, McDonald’s advertising agency.
“The idea is, in a billboard, you got three or four seconds to capture people’s attention,” he said. “You’re trying to be as short and sweet and as pithy as possible.”
