• by Steve Ellwanger , August 1, 2022

La Colombe Coffee Roasters employees are the talent and voiceovers in the coffee marketer’s first national advertising campaign, which is accompanied by the pledge “We don’t sugar coat SH*T.”

The latter is a poke at the sugar content of Starbucks’ ready-to-drink lattes and Frappuccinos.

The ad's close-up on employees -- and the reference to poop -- is meant to reflect La Colombe’s realness in ingredients, taste and the brand’s Philadelphia roots.

“We have this balance of gritty Philadelphia and sophisticated, elegant La Colombe French heritage, so we’ve always balanced those two things,” Kathryne O’Connor, senior vice president of brand, marketing and ecommerce for La Colombe, tells Marketing Daily.

“We thought it was reflective of our brand’s tone of voice.”

The “For The Love Of Real” campaign’s anthem commercial is the work of the Circus Maximus and Big agencies.

La Colombe baristas, managers and marketing team members talk about the process of making coffee—from bean to cup—and how the end result “isn’t the result of something we do here and there. It’s brewed into who we are.”

The spot also claims that the company’s ready-to-drink lattes contain 60% less sugar than “the leading flavored coffee brand”—an allusion to Starbucks.

“The most fun for me and our team is that every single cast and voice in the commercial is a La Colombe employee,” says O’Connor.

“We don’t sugar coat SH*T” and “real flavor does all the talking” are messages conveyed by this shorter spot.

Those talking points will be displayed in out-of-home placements in several markets at such venues as grocery stores, gyms, buses and street furniture.

“We chose cities where the cold brew category is strong and growing,” O’Connor adds.