Misplaced Coffee Cup on 'Game of Thrones' Brews Buzz for Starbucks -- Update
May 06 2019 - 6:30PM
Dow Jones News
By Nat Ives
Plenty of brands would like to find a way into an ad-free smash
TV show like HBO's "Game of Thrones." On Sunday night, Starbucks
Corp. seemed to have lucked its way there.
Observant viewers noticed that something strongly resembling a
Starbucks coffee cup appeared in one scene on a table before
Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke.
Starbucks responded Monday with a tweet saying, "TBH we're
surprised she didn't order a Dragon Drink," referencing a beverage
on its menu.
As it turns out, the cup came from the production's craft
services and not from Starbucks, according to a person familiar
with the situation.
Still, the apparent anachronism handed Starbucks a big share of
the voluminous "Game of Thrones" social-media conversation that
follows every episode.
One viewer joked on Twitter about Starbucks employees' practice
of writing customers' names on their cups: "Feeling sorry for the
Starbucks [barista] that had to write out 'Daenerys Stormborn of
the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the
Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker
of Chains, and Mother of Dragons.'"
Starbucks Corp. declined to elaborate on its tweet.
"The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake," a
spokeswoman for HBO, part of the WarnerMedia division of AT&T
Inc., said in a statement. "Daenerys had ordered an herbal
tea."
Mark Henderson, vice president of product strategy at Nielsen
Holdings PLC, said he wasn't sure how a Starbucks cup's appearance
would rate on his company's Branded Integration Intel scoring
system, which considers factors such as screen time to rate product
placements. "It's a strange amalgamation," he said, noting that the
coffee chain doesn't exist in the show's fantasy setting.
Other brands have found themselves unexpectedly in prominent
media venues before -- and struggled to make much of the
opportunity. Poland Spring appeared in Sen. Marco Rubio's response
to the 2013 State of the Union when he lunged awkwardly for a
bottle of water. The next afternoon, the brand posted a photo on
Facebook of a bottle facing a mirror with the caption, "Reflecting
on our cameo. What a night!"
Beyoncé's 2016 song "Formation" includes a raunchy call-out to
restaurant chain Red Lobster. The chain eventually wrote on
Twitter, "'Cheddar Bey Biscuits' has a nice ring to it, don't you
think? #Formation @Beyonce"
Ratings for Sunday night's episode of "Game of Thrones" are
expected to be available on Tuesday, HBO said. The April 28 episode
drew 17.8 million viewers the night it made its debut, including
two TV airings and streaming on HBO's digital platforms.
Dozens of brands arranged for official promotional tie-ins with
the show, without the benefit of appearing in a scene, including
Bud Light, Mountain Dew, OkCupid and Oreo.
Write to Nat Ives at nat.ives@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 06, 2019 18:15 ET (22:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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