Few products are so closely associated with a single season that their return becomes news in itself. Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte has long moved beyond the menu and become one of the recognizable signs of the beginning of fall, along with memes and comments about how “basic” it is to love it. Instead of trying to distance itself from that label this year, Starbucks has placed it at the center of its communication around the PSL’s return to the menu.
In the social-first part of the campaign, Martha Stewart takes on that role. In the video, she directly addresses the drink’s reputation as a choice that makes us all a little more “basic,” before concluding that the smell of PSL reminds her of her house in the fall and that it is exactly as it should be.
The situation is then interrupted by Belmont Cameli, an actor from the series Off Campus, who notes that Stewart drinks her PSL hot, while he chooses his iced. His attempt at conversation ends with her asking whether she should even know who he is, allowing the campaign to play with the difference between the two generations of audiences that this pairing brings in front of the camera.
Agency Conscious Minds is behind the social content, with the materials appearing on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube Shorts. Within a few days, the first video surpassed ten million views on Starbucks’ Instagram profile, while additional content continues to build on the interaction between Stewart and Cameli.
Jackson Ozark, Creative Director at Conscious Minds, speaking about the work on the campaign, described Stewart as a very funny and pleasant collaborator and noted that her organic engagement following the release brought a new wave of conversation around the campaign.
The celebrity element, however, is not the only way Starbucks is marking this year’s return of the drink. In parallel, the TV campaign There’s Only One PSL has also been launched, with Anomaly behind it. The 30-second spot is built around real content from fans and creators who, over the years, have found their own ways to show how much Pumpkin Spice Latte season means to them. The materials included in the film also feature a clip from Family Guy.
This approach follows what Starbucks itself has highlighted as an important part of the PSL story. Over the years, the drink has generated memes, comments and a large community of fans, so this year’s communication does not attempt to distance itself from everything that has grown around it. On the contrary, both the “basic” reputation and fan content become material for the campaign.
The return of a product that has been one of Starbucks’ seasonal symbols for years is therefore divided between two different formats. Martha Stewart and Belmont Cameli carry the conversation on social media, while There’s Only One PSL gives the floor back to those who turned the PSL into much more than just another drink that returns to the menu once a year.
