The Real PSL

The arrival of fall is synonymous with the arrival of everything pumpkin. Like, EVERYTHING. To stand out in this mass of orange, we reminded people that Starbucks is the original creator of the pumpkin spice latte by treating it like the celebrity it is: The Real PSL. We launched (and verified) his Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram accounts, annually creating content around this fall-loving beverage.

This is some of the most fun work that I ever got to crate. We had a seamstress make a latte a tiny pair of lederhosen for Oktoberfest and had to develop a strict set of rules around how high his glasses sat and how much whip was in his hair. We also got to ask ourselves questions like, what would his school picture look like? What’s his favorite fall activity? What’s his go-to fashion trend?

In addition to just being adorable and fun, these channels also allowed us to speak directly to PSL super fans and reward them with things like pumpkin koozies and give them instructions to get their favorite fall beverages a week before they were on the menus.

ROLE: Art Director
AGENCY: Swift
CLIENT: Starbucks / The Real PSL
CREATIVE PARTNERS: Amy Untch, Kimi Peterson, Cat Hyland, Forrest Martin, Brittnee Gregory
AWARDS: 2014 Shorty Awards - Best Tumblr Campaign, 2014 Shorty Awards - Best Use of an Animated GIF (silver), 2014 Forrester Groundwell Award