City Desk » Advertising

Green Mountain Coffee Learns Its Lesson

Mike Madden — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:36:23 +0000

Green Mountain Coffee came in for some justified mockery over its recent Metro advertising campaign, which seemed to suggest its patrons should—gasp!—break Metro's rules while commuting. Here's the ad as it looked in the Farragut West station last month:

And here's the new ad running in its place in the same station today:

Special bonus: They avoided the pesky copy-editing question, which apparently vexed them the first time around, of whether to capitalize Metro! (Note to ad copywriters: Yes, capitalize Metro.)

Photos by Jandos Rothstein

Alcohol + Caffeine = No-No, FTC Says

Christine MacDonald — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:33:30 +0000

Sorry to break this news: But it turns out that mixing caffeine and alcohol may not the best way to party all night and get up for work the next morning, chipper as ever.

The maker of the caffeinated schnapps Wide Eye has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its advertisements were “deceptive, unsubstantiated, and in violation of federal law.”

Coming in flavors like Pomegranate Spice, Cherry Bomb and Mango Chill, Wide Eye is one of many alcoholic energy drinks that started turning up in liquor stories in the last year or so. But the FTC says its maker, Constellation Brands Inc., has no credible evidence to back up claims that the liqueur as a great way to get a buzz on without losing your edge.

“The truth is that alcohol and caffeine could be a dangerous mix, and a claim like that can have very serious consequences,” says Eileen Harrington, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

FTC officials have been on a roll recently. On Tuesday, they nabbed Kmart Corp. and two other companies for greenwashing. All three were charged with making “false and unsubstantiated claims” that paper plates, paper towels and moist wipes that they sold were biodegradable.

City Paper: Still Good for Something, Like Free Burgers

Tim Carman — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:09:50 +0000

So the City Paper may be part of a bankrupt chain and we may be guilty of a bankrupt form of alternative journalism, but we can still sell burgers, dammit!

The "Free Burger Day" coupon in this week's issue has generated a long line of freeloaders today looking to cash in at Z-Burger, the Tenleytown joint that hopes to, one day, rival the Five Guys chain for sheer volume of restaurants. David Walker, City Paper's advertising sales director, tried to stop by and order himself a free ground-beef sammie. The line was so long, he went to McDonald's instead. (As far as pure beef flavor goes, I'd argue there's not much drop off there.)

It's not too late to take advantage of the offer. It goes til 10 p.m., when Z-Burger closes. But after you bums finish off your burger, you should thank Walker and account executive Andy Minarik, who are responsible for this freebie. When Z-Burger's owner was fishing around for ideas on how to advertise his budding chain, the pair suggested Free Burger Day. He agreed. He may be regretting it now. I don't know. I tried calling over there, but the dude on the line essentially hung up on me.