Humanaut launched a new campaign for Organic Valley, promoting the brand’s half and half by skewering hipster coffee culture by opening up the Organic Valley Coffee Shop in the hipster-den of lower Manhattan’s NoLita neighborhood.
The spot stars Organic Valley dairy farmer Gerrit van Tol, who claims at the opening of the spot that “Great coffee isn’t just made, it’s milked.” In the two minute spot, van Tol explains that his real passion is coffee before introducing the Organic Valley coffee shop. “If you want to taken seriously in the coffee world, you need a tiny storefront in a hip neighborhood in New York City.” So Organic Valley did just that, with van Tol serving as half and half “barista” and offering customers organic half and half in three sizes (Lil’ Bit, Double and Lotta), with coffee available on a nondescript nearby table, set up much how half and half typically is in coffee shops.
The spot finds humor in taking van Tol and the brand out of their element and its jabs at the over-the-top hipster coffee scene of New York.
It’s not laugh-out-loud funny, but does make for a fairly memorable spot about half and half–no small accomplishment. In one of the more on-point moments, van Tol decides, “We’re going to need one of those modern logos with an x in it or some arrows, that says when you were established.” The self-important New York coffee scene is contrasted with van Tol’s diary farm, where cows graze on a blend of grasses. At the conclusion of the spot van Tol says “Organic Valley just happens to be the world’s best coffee company. We just don’t make coffee.” Of course, some of us prefer our coffee black, but for the one quarter of Americans who turn to half and half with their cup of joe, the spot makes a convincing pitch for Organic Valley as the perfect companion for your morning stir.
“People who love a rich and creamy cup of joe have been using Organic Valley Half & Half to make the best cup of coffee for over 20 years,” van Tol explained to LBB. “But at most coffee shops you have no idea what kind of cream you’re pouring into your coffee, or if it’s even organic. It just made sense that we should have our own coffee shop that focuses on what we believe is the most important ingredient.”
CREDITS
Client: Organic Valley
Agency: Humanaut
Chief Creative Director: David Littlejohn
Chief Strategist: Andrew Clark
Copywriters: Liza Behles, Andy Pearson, Tyler Sharkey
Design Director: Stephanie Gelabert
Designer: Coleson Amon
Account Director: Elizabeth Cates
Production Company: The Bindery
Director: Eric Ryan Anderson
Executive Producer: Greg Beauchamp
Director of Photography: Josh Goleman
Producer: Bo Armstrong
Production Manager: Lee Manne
Editor: Tyler Beasley / Fancy Rhino
Post Producer: Katie Nelson / Fancy Rhino
Music: Carl Cadwell / Skypunch Studios
Store Design: Pink Sparrow Scenic