It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Seahawks or Patriots fan; if you’re a Starbucks Rewards member on the Monday after the Super Bowl, then congratulations, you’ve won a free drink.
For the second year, Starbucks is offering its loyalty program members free tall iced or brewed coffee with the purchase of any beverage.
Tressie Lieberman, Starbucks’ chief brand officer (CBO), told ADWEEK the offer was part of the brand’s “360-degree” Super Bowl strategy, which will see it air a cinematic, Olympics-themed ad dedicated to the ritual of the coffee run before and after the Big Game.
“We’re giving people free coffee when they need it most, the day after the Super Bowl,” she said. She added that the brand would debut a new coffee blend dubbed 1971 Roast at the same time, alongside a limited run of paper cups in its signature green color.
All this is designed to celebrate the coffee chain’s “heritage in coffee and craft,” said Lieberman.
Hello, again
Starbucks also offered Rewards members a free drink in 2025, and is fast cementing itself as a post-game ritual.
Its Super Bowl 60-adjacent marketing blitz follows last year’s “Hello Again,” a campaign that aired around the broadcast to reintroduce the business as a “third space” where people can connect and gather.
Recent campaigns have included “Together at Starbucks” from Anomaly, and a sell-out holiday merch run that included a viral limited-edition teddy bear tumbler, for which people camped outside stores.
That formed part of the brand’s ongoing “Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy, led by CEO Brian Niccol, designed to “enhance the in-store experience.” This included the return of the condiment bar, baristas writing on cups, and a revised code of conduct.
Despite employee strikes and consumer boycotts, the turnaround plan is starting to pay off for Starbucks, which returned to U.S. same-store sales growth in the latest quarter after two years of declines. In Q1, $7.3 billion of its net revenues came from North America, up 3% year-on-year.
