Coffee in the Sky

On a recent flight from Newark to Denver, I got a coffee. The drink was good but the cup needed milk and sugar.

The copy reads: "We select only 1% of the best Arabica beans with zero defects".

illy wants United passengers to know something: these beans are quality. But if you ask me, that's not relevant. Think of the audience here. United passengers up 30,000 feet. They have no coffee options up here. It's just yes or no. Given that, I'd say the approach of differentiating via luxury is wasted effort. Instead, how about adding some fun?

I rewrote the copy for them, adhering to three self-imposed rules:

1) don't completely ditch the "quality" RTB

2) stay at or below 60 characters

3) add some fun

First, I drafted 15 copy variations. I liked this the most:

The best beans in the friendly sky.

It retains the quality RTB without being too detailed. It's only 34 characters. And it pulls in the iconic United tagline for an added boost. Nice, no rules broken. But still, there's no journey for the reader. It's just a cute line of copy. It's not fun.

Next, I thought. Hmm. What do we have to work with here?

travel + coffee = ...?

How about an interactive landing page that shows the beautiful countries where illy sources its coffee, along with the United hubs that can take you there?

I added this copy to the back of the cup:

We travel the world to find the best coffee beans. With United, you can too. Learn more at the bottom of this cup.

And at the bottom of the cup, revealed only after the passenger has finished their drink:

[QR code] + illy.com/ExploreWithUnited

Do water and coffee stains on paper make copy illegible? A question for future researchers. Also, this backside copy breaks the 60-character rule. But that's ok. Self-imposed rules were made to be broken.

Anyway, I'm pleased with the result. Will it quadruple sales next year? Unlikely. Is it better? I think so.

The Redesigned Cup