C. F. Blanke Tea & Coffee Company was founded by Cyrus F. Blanke and operated in St. Louis from 1889 to before World War. The brand used an enigmatic character of a devil from a famous 1800’s German play called “Faust”. In the plot, the devil tempts the main character, Faust, with unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. In the Blanke’s Faust Blend Coffee advertising, the devil character represents tempting consumers with their savory, superior rich brand of coffee.

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We repositioned Faust as a brand that is served and sold to upscale hotels and restaurants-coffee that favors dark roast and bold flavors. The brand evokes sinful decadence, both tempting and luxurious in packaging and message.

The Mood: The difficulty in this rebrand was to maintain the mood of the original campaign and its connection to the story, but to ditch the devil’s imagery altogether as to avoid illustrative cliches and to update the design to appeal to a broader luxury market.

The Voice: "The devil" character becomes the narrator-an invisible voice tempting us to partake in the delicious coffee. He is present in client-facing messaging campaigns like “Drink with the Devil”; “I Am Your Dark Roast Master” and “Come Up for a Night Cap, Stay for the Midnight Mass”. The campaigns are both cheeky and a bit forbidden-invoking an image of the occult and daring us to cross over for a more unsavory adventure. They feed our imagination.