In 1990, before General Foods had officially become Kraft Foods, Maxwell House was the subject of one of the biggest branding mistakes ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but it was a pretty big booboo. The company launched Maxwell House “Brewed Ready-to-Drink” coffee which was merchandized in the refrigerated section of grocery stores. According to the label, the coffee was brewed with crystal clear water, and the fresh brewed flavor and aroma are locked in this exclusive foil-lined fresh-pack.
Can you see the problem? Either you take the coffee out of the pack to heat it, or you drink it cold. You couldn’t put it in the microwave because of the foil-lined pack. So the ready-to-drink coffee was cold coffee. Nobody wanted it and the company didn’t do a great job educating consumers about how the product was meant to be used.
The foil-lined cartons of Maxwell House ready to drink coffee were meant to be stored in the refrigerator. The coffee was then supposed to be poured into a cup and heated in the microwave. I’m not sure if this would have worked as a product had potential customers understood what was expected of them.
Ironically, there are now successful brands of bottled ready-to-drink coffee which are sold as iced coffee, complete with cream and other added ingredients. This is why I said that it was a branding mistake rather than a complete and utter product-creation mistake.
General Foods did have some good ideas, however. They successfully introduced Maxwell House into France, who are quite picky, and snobby, about their coffee. General Foods, learning of the French preference for darker stronger tasting brews, developed a darker roast product specifically for the French market. Initial marketing was not successful, although consumers supposedly liked the coffee.
But then a U.S. creative director for the company said, “Maxwell House is so strong that a spoon can stand up in the cup.” This apparently made sense to the French, making a success out of the brand.
Print and television ads were released showing a spoon standing up in a cup of Maxwell House coffee. The guy that came up with that must have been in the Navy. It strikes me that Americans would associate that with an over-brewed and over-strong coffee, rather than a pleasing dark roast.
Maxwell House, under Phillip Morris, was also the first company to come out with ready-to-use filter packs for drip coffee makers. And, today, Maxwell House “Iced Coffee” is available, ready to drink, in cans.
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