Starbucks Coffee released its first ever TV commercial in an effort to get more customers and increase transactions. Weiden & Kennedy has created two campaigns, The Red Cup and Pass the Cheer for Starbucks to reach out to a wider audience. According to Starbucks CEO Jim Donald, the strains on the economy are causing a dampener for their products. The company has seen a decline of 1% in average transactions per store in the US and with the cut in its forecast for its financial year, saw its shares go down by 6 percent.

“I wouldn’t read into the advertising initiatives to much,” Founder Howard Schultz said in response to the question in a conference call. “I think it’s a natural evolution of the maturity of the brand and the experience. And the fact that we think we can get enormous leverage gaining the national footprint we have in major markets as a result of a TV campaign.”