Examples of First Wave Coffee Philosophy

If you watched our video a couple months back on different coffee "waves" you will remember that coffee culture in the United States Has gone through three "waves" in the last 100 years.

Today I would like to give some examples of how coffee in the first wave worked. First wave coffee is driven by brands like Folgers, Maxwell House, and Tasters Choice.

You may remember that "first wave" coffee was driven by:

• Consistancy
• Commercialization and
• Convenience

It's goal was to get coffee to the most people, and it did a good job of it. Notice the ads below... They are selling coffee as part of a lifestyle rather then as something that can help show the unique you (second wave) or something that has value in itself (third wave).






In the video above almost nothing is said about the coffee itself, but it connects drinking coffee to a lifestyle that OTHER people have. It basically says "drink coffee and you can be like the people you wish you were." This is a typical first wave philosophy.




In This video the lifestyle is almost oppressive. It basically says drink Folgers or you will be a failure as a wife. It uses broad social pressure to push a brand. Like the first ad it pushes you into homogeneity with society as a whole.

We will explore Second and Third wave coffee in future posts