Starbucks strikes again with its red cup campaign for the holiday season. The coffee chain famously serves up beverages in red cups during December. Billboard ads point us to a high tech advent calendar at www.theredcup.com In the US, TV ads follow the plight of red cups and Starbucks has hired taxis to drive around with coffee cups seemingly left on the roof. According to a post on the Flickr photo site, the coffee company has even attached red Starbucks cups to taxis — the driver says “Happy Holidays from Starbucks” when informed about the cup.

This weekend, while driving across the Lions Gate Bridges, I spotted a Starbucks red cup on the bumper of the truck ahead of me. Having heard about the red cup campaign, I pointed it out to my husband. We laughed, thinking we’d spotted the Vancouver version of the viral marketing campaign. But when we (coincidentally) followed the truck into the Park Royal shopping centre, the cup bounced on the bumper when the truck went over a speed bump. My husband thinks the driver honestly left a full coffee cup on the bumper while loading up the truck. I’m holding out hope for the red cup campaign, since the cup merely bounced and did not fall off. Let me know if you see this campaign in your town.

(c) 2005 by Andrea Coutu. Vancouver Marketing Consultant. All rights reserved.