Starbucks has struck a deal with MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ that lands their beleaguered coffee on host Joe Scarborough’s desk each and every morning — and includes a few brand mentions and logo flashes throughout the program.
Co-hosted by Mika Brzezinski, ‘Morning Joe’ has long employed Starbucks coffee, but that was only because the hosts drank it daily, anyway. So now there’s money behind, and as Steve Krakauer of TVNewser tells us, “[t]he deal includes using the words ‘brewed by Starbucks’ on the logo and in teases, while cutaway shots of Starbucks logos on set were employed during the show.”
Now the question that belies this deal is whether or not the campaign crosses the line. After all, what would happen if Starbucks became the story of the week? We’ll let the TVNewser team handle that one. But from a branding perspective does Morning Joe really help itself by allying with a high-brow coffee brand that’s seen better days — considering the potential cost to its editorial fervor, we aren’t sure. But you might be.
This isn’t the first time coffee has landed on a morning show. Last summer, a Las Vegas morning news program on local station KVVU sold its soul for a cup of McDonald’s coffee (to be placed on the desk). At the time, the station claimed they’d take the coffee down in cases when the sponsorship became a conflict.