• Ad Age, Monday, May 4, 2009 11 AM

McDonald's is undertaking "one of the bigger drum-roll moments" in its marketing history, as one analyst puts it, as it unleashes a long-awaited national campaign for its new coffee line, McCafé. Although McDonald's won't say how much it's budgeting on the new product line, it is expected to spend more than $100 million across TV, print, radio, outdoor, Internet, events, PR and sampling, Emily Bryson York reports.

Understanding that it faces a quality-perception hurdle with first-time buyers, McDonald's is focused on "making the product the hero" in TV spots with what Marlena Peleo-Lazar, chief creative officer, McDonald's USA, calls "chocolate-cake shots." One TV spot incorporates the accent mark from McCafé. When you "McCafé your day," a commute becomes a commuté. When a pal drops by your cubicle with an iced mocha, it's a cubiclé.

Trial for the products could dent Starbucks as much as 5% in same-store sales, says UBS analyst David Palmer, but he suggests that the massive media weight also could lift the entire category.

Read the whole story at Ad Age »