Oh, Johann!

I've always been of the opinion that commercials are very much akin to a Jedi mind trick--they're effective, but only on the weak minded. I don't buy my fabric softner based on a cuddly bear or my insurance based on a cute gecko (although I love the way he dances in the Texas commercial), and I laugh every time the Yoda & Darth Maul Lipton Tea commercials come on but I still brew my own iced tea.

Of late, there has been a series of commercials for Gevalia coffee. Have you seen them? These commercials feature a young man with long, blond hair and an obviously European accent. He's absolutely gorgeous. He compares our American cup of "joe" to the Gevalia coffee, which he refers to as johann. In one commercial, he tells us that johann won't power walk with you at the mall, but he will rub your feet. In my favorite, he comes to the rescue of a young woman working in an office-standard cubicle. He tells her that johann will get her to that coveted corner office with a young assistant who looks just like him. Its a fantasy, but let's face it, its a powerful one.

What really surprises me about the Gevalia campaign is that it is so obviously targeted strictly to women! Given that men now do so much grocery shopping, either as an active couples partner or because they live alone, I find it odd they would essentially exclude half the population from their advertising. I have half been expecting to see a similar series directed at men, but so far nothing.

Its been decades since I've had Gevalia coffee. It used to be available exclusively through a mail order program where you automatically received a bag every month or so. One of the key messages in these new commercials is that Gevalia is now available in grocery stores. Heck, Starbucks did it, so I guess that makes it OK for a high-class company such as Gevalia to step down off their self-proclaimed pedastel and do likelwise. But what I found so particularly odd about these commercials is that when I found myself in the coffee aisle the other day in need of a new bag of coffe, I seriously debated getting the Gevalia. They had a nice selection of roasts available and I stood there in store carefully considering each possible selection.

Did their advertising ploy work, you ask? Did I reach for that bright, yellow bag of Gevalia? Well, see for yourself.

Yep, I had breakfast with johann this morning. What can I say? It was wonderful! Johann was all he was promised to be. The first sip made me want to take another and then another. Before I knew it, I was sitting at the breakfast table alone with an empty cup. I dashed to the kitchen. I must have more johann! I fixed a second cup and was as quickly done with it. Alone again and quite sad.

And now, you will simply have to excuse me. Because after two cups of coffee, I must burn off this ridiculous caffeine high by walking a few hours and I have got to find out if johann comes in decaf! See y'all later. Ohh, I wonder when my new hunk of an assistant arrives? Do you suppose he can type??