2008/01/22 
0:02 UTC 
Today I’m featuring a classic Nescafé commercial from Germany, going 30 years back in time. 1978. “Progress”, “Engineering” and “Innovation” were the buzzwords then, not “global warming”, and flying, especially flying the Concorde was the ultimate experience for many, me included. I guess that is why they feature it in this commercial, to illustrate the “new” and “innovative” Nescafé they came up with that year. If you think of it, the “re-invention” of a long lasting product is something that appears every so often in commercials even today…just think of Gillette, with a seemingly never-ending array of “new” features to its razors…I am always amazed at how they tweak this and that to give me “the best a man can get”, to quote from their commercials. And I must admit, I bought their newest thingie every time, that is, before I switched to an electric razor. But I’m not really happy with that either…
These days, Nescafé comes up with new tastes and flavors all the time, but in 1978 coffee still meant black coffee, and product diversification was still a thing of the future. But even if you have only one product there’s always room for “enhancing” an already existing product, by means of a “new and improved formula” and by giving it a new packaging.
That is the idea here and the message in this Nescafé commercial is dramatically underscored by the final tunes of “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss, a tune that is maybe most famously featured in “2001: Space Odyssey 2001″. Get the picture?
I grew up in Germany in the 70s, but I don’t remember seeing this commercial, maybe I was too young to notice, and honestly I hadn’t even started drinking coffee in 1978. Anyway, I can only find one word for this commercial: Tacky. Seriously tacky.
The commercial shifts between a Concorde plane taking off and a jar of Nescafé and a person drinking from that jar of Nescafé. The theme is “progress” or “innovation” (not sure how to translate “Fortschritt” in German), comparing the ultimate in flight engineering with the ultimate in coffee engineering, promoting Nescafé’s new production process which has become “even better”. Oh, and note the artificial “plop” sound when taking off the lid and putting it back on again, and the “crunchy” sound when the spoon dips into the coffee grains. Funny.
Below the video is a transcript of the narration in the commercial, in German and in English.
| Die Menschen arbeiten für den Fortschritt. Neue Dimensionen werden geschaffen. Überall. Den Fortschritt in die Welt des Nescafés bringt der neue Nescafe Gold. Im neuen quadratischem Glas, Mit dem neuen Nestlé Filter Frio-Verfahren. Mit neuem Aroma. Mit neuem Geschmack. Erleben was der Fortschritt bringt. Nescafé. Der Kaffe, den die Welt trinkt. |
Mankind works for innvovation. New dimensions are created. Everywhere. Innovation in the world of Nescafé is made by the new Nescafé Gold. In a new square jar, made with the new Nestlé Filter Frio process. With a new aroma. With a new taste. Experience what innovation brings. Nescafé. The coffe that the world drinks. |
I can watch this over and over again…you too?
