Before the international coffee campaign started in 1919, the National Coffee Roasters Association promoted two national coffee weeks, one in 1914 and another in 1915, wherein excellent groundwork was done for the big joint coffee trade propaganda that followed. Some original research also was done along lines of proper grinding and correct coffee brewing. A better-coffee-making committee, under the direction of Edward Aborn of New York, rendered yeoman's service to the cause. Much educational work was done in schools and colleges, among newspaper editors, and in the trade. This campaign was the first co-operative publicity for coffee. Among other things, it put a nation-wide emphasis on iced coffee as a delectable summer drink and, for the first time, stressed the correct making of the beverage by drip and filtration methods instead of by boiling, which had long been one of the most crying evils of the business.
Chart Showing Money Spent on Advertising Coffee and Substitutes
Only advertisements printed in magazines and periodicals are considered in making this calculation
Package Coffee Advertising
Coffee advertising began to take on a distinctive character with the introduction of Ariosa by John Arbuckle in 1873. Some of the early publicity for this pioneer package coffee appears typographically crude, judged by modern standards; but the copy itself has all the needful punch, and many of the arguments are just as applicable today as they were a half-century ago. Take the handbill copy illustrated. It was done in three colors, and the argument was new and most convincing. The reverse side copy is also extremely effective. Note the expert-roaster argument and coffee-making directions; some of these may still be found in current coffee advertising.
Most of the original Arbuckle advertising was by means of circulars or broadsides, although some newspaper space was employed. Premiums were first used by John Arbuckle as an advertising sales adjunct, and they proved a big factor in putting Ariosa on the map. Mr. Arbuckle created the kind of word-of-mouth publicity for his goods that is the most difficult achievement in the business of advertising. It caused so deep and lasting an impression, that in some sections it has persisted through at least five decades. The advertising moral is: Get people to talk your brand.
Since the death of its founder, the Arbuckle copy has been changed to fit modern conditions. That it has kept pace with all the forward movements in business and advertising is evident from the specimens which help to illustrate this chapter. A significant change is to be noted in the fact that, for the first time in its history, "the greatest coffee business in the world" has adopted a policy of advertising to the trade as well as to the consumer, thus giving its publicity a well rounded character which it formerly lacked.
The evolution of other notable package coffees is also shown by illustration. Several concerns blazed new trails that have since been picked up and followed by competing brands.