The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, May 3, 1993, by Jeffry Scott
"Grounds for Romance A man, a woman, a cup of coffee - what 
could be more stimulating? The Taster's Choice commercials 
keep the intrigue perking along by slowly turning up the heat."
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Will they or won't they? 

That may be the commercial question of the '90s - about, of 
course, the Taster's Choice couple. 

For two years and through seven episodes of the serial 
television campaign (the latest spot airs at 10 tonight 
during "Northern Exposure" on WAGA/Channel 5 [59241]), the 
sophisticated pair - whose names viewers have never heard - 
have been mooning over mocha without so much as a peck on 
the cheek. 

It's enough to drive some people and dogs nuts. 

"Our 10-year-old miniature Dachshund loves [your 
commercial]," an Atlanta couple wrote the company recently. 
"Each time [it airs] and the lady rings the doorbell, 
Beauregard runs to our front door. . . . Your commercial 
hits the mark, and you have three permanent customers." 

It's not such a hit with some in the local advertising 
community. But perhaps that's because the commercials feel 
too much like your father's Oldsmobile (no jump-cuts, no 
loud graphics, no scrolling type that keeps changing on the 
off-chance you might actually be able to read it). 

"It's disgusting," scoffs Bryan Lahr, an Atlanta advertising 
creative director. The ads are too smaltzy for his taste - 
which, admittedly, runs a little to the bizarre. (He once 
did a commercial for Rhodes Furniture featuring a guy with a 
flamethrower torching a stack of couches.) 

But if it's disgusting to some, it's a hit to most. Last 
year the Taster's Choice campaign was America's 10th most 
popular, up from 16th the year before, according to New 
York-based Video Story Boards Tests Inc. 

What's happening here? 

The campaign is a success, say psychologists, because of the 
tenor of the times. The population is aging. AIDS is a 
growing fear. And the country is returning to traditional 
values in the wake of the Roaring '80s and a sputtering 
recession. 

If sex in the '70s and '80s was a beer commercial, in the 
'90s it's instant coffee and slow - maybe no - 
gratification. 

"We're in a time now where romance is very important," says 
Carol Moog, a Philadelphia-based psychologist and consultant 
to the advertising industry. 

"People are taking more time in relationships at various 
ages, and they're relying more on fantasy than acting out 
their sexual impulses. . . . Romance has a strong appeal 
because it's not rushed." 

That's what tipped Nestle to the idea, according to Taster's 
Choice product manager Heidi Neroni. 

"Our research showed us the role coffee plays in developing 
relationships. People always use coffee as an excuse to sit 
down and talk and make future plans." 

That, and the fact that the campaign was already a huge hit 
in Britain. 

There the ads have been running for five years through 11 
episodes, and feature the same British actors - Anthony Head 
and Sharon Maughan - playing the same unnamed characters, in 
identical roles for Gold Blend coffee, the British version 
of Taster's Choice. 

The campaign has so captivated Brits that when word leaked 
out that in the 11th episode he would tell her he loved her, 
the country's biggest tabloid, The Sun, splashed it across 
the front page under a huge headline: "I Luv You. At Last, 
The Words All Gold Blend Drinkers Have Waited Five Years 
For." 

The commercials even inspired a paperback novel, "Love Over 
Gold - the Untold Story of TV's Greatest Romance." The 342-
page pulp romance (the characters are named Matthew Prescott 
and Alexandra Maitland) was written by a British detective-
novel writer under the pen name Susannah James. It shot to 
No. 7 on the British best-seller lists shortly after its 
December publication. 

"Love Over Gold" answered the question, "Will they, or won't 
they?" in the last paragraph on the last page. ("As Matt 
drew her closer, feeling the warmth of her, pulling at the 
satin ribbon around her waist. . . . ") 

Critics didn't warm to Matt and Alexandra quite as much as 
the characters did to each other. "Banal," was one's 
appraisal of the book. "Heavy on the yuck factor," wrote 
another. But at least one person, Allan Allbeury, loved it. 
Mr. Allbuery's critique: "A delight." 

If you hadn't guessed, Mr. Allbuery is head of publicity for 
Nestle in the United Kingdom and a man with plenty of reason 
to rave. Since the Gold Blend campaign began three years 
ago, sales have jumped 40 percent. 

"The whole thing is a total tease," effuses the executive. 
"Every single episode, the whole thing is left up in the air 
- will they get together or won't they?" 

But it's a clean tease, the publicist emphasizes. "It's 
unashamed romance and no sleaze," he says. "That's 
appealing, especially to women. And, of course, they're the 
ones that decide what goes in the shopping basket, aren't 
they?" 

For their part, Nestle officials in America would rather not 
compare the campaign here to the campaign there. 

"I really want to stress that they are different campaigns," 
says Amy Brown, Nestle's U.S. spokeswoman. Or rather, they 
will be. So far, the scenes in the ads have been nearly 
identical, with only a few words changed in the dialogue. 

Lisa Fortini-Campbell, a professor of marketing at the 
Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, 
argues that the campaign's power isn't so much its content 
as its soap-opera format. 

"There's a sense of mystery and intrigue that pulls you in," 
she says. 

Dr. Moog says the reason the campaign has had no imitators 
is that coffee fits neatly as a prop in the drama, and few 
other products can do that. "It doesn't feel like a 
commercial," she says. 

But does it feel like true love? Will they or won't they? 

"In terms of the length of the campaign, we don't have a 
planned ending to it," dodges Ms. Neroni of Nestle. But she 
promises nothing "raunchy." 

"They're taking it slow and sophisticated," she says. 

Photos: Color Photo: Part1 They meet when she, hosting a 
dinner party, runs out of coffee, and pops next door to 
borrow some from a handsome neighbor. Color Photo: Part 2 
She pops back, and he's entertaining (Another woman?) She 
returns the coffee. "How can you ever thank me?" He askes 
slyly. Color Photo: Part 3 He arrives late for dinner at his 
sister's. Guess who's there? He invites her out the next 
night, enticing her with coffee. Color Photo: Part 4 She 
invites him over after their date. He lingers syaing he 
loves her coffee. "Then by all means," she says "take it 
with you." Color Photo: Part 5 He stops by Another man 
answers the door; "You want the lady of the house? She's 
getting changed." He leaves, dejected. Color Photo: Part 6 
She encounters him and explains that the mystery man was her 
brother. Later, he calls to hint that she join him in Paris. 
Color Photo: "Love Over Gold" is a best seller in Britain. 



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