McDonald's: "Can I just have a coffee please?"

"Umm, I will have a black coffee." 

"Would you like the beans partially steamed first?"

"Errr, sure why not?"

Long gone are the days when you can ask for a black coffee, and get a black coffee - well, certainly not in London anyway!

Since hipsters became London's tastemakers, everything we consume has always got to have a slight twist to it. And coffee houses are no exception to the rule. But we have lived with "normal" coffee this long and it has always got us through that Monday morning meeting so, as the saying goes, if it ain't broke why fix it? I ordered a coffee and that's what I want, you can keep your handmade straws to yourself.

Leo Burnett has picked up on the growing hypocrisy that is London's coffee shops and has used it to great affect. The campaign contrasts the simplicity and great taste of a Maccy D's McCafe with the complexity of the urban hipster coffee culture with it's high price points and extravagant menus. The ad shows increasingly confused customers finally ending up at the fast-food giant, where they get what they asked for - a nice normal coffee minus the huge price tag.

The humour filled spot shows how McDonald's is the antithesis to the complication in a way that will resonate with anyone who has tried to purchase a coffee in London in the past few years. Tapping into this often private, unspoken grievance with this overly fussy cultural moment, presents this challenger brand (McCafe) as the smart choice that will actually meet your needs - after all, you are just looking for a coffee! 

Creative director Matt Lee said, “We’re reminding people that if you’re simply after a great tasting cup of coffee, without the fuss, then McDonald’s is the place for you. If you prefer an artisanal Amazonian blend, served with a rumour of yak’s milk in a reclaimed jam jar, then you might want to go somewhere else.”

An ad decrying hipsters instead of championing them is very welcome in my eyes, although I do like a game of table tennis and if it comes free with my coffee then...

Rating: 9/10