McDonald’s to offer free coffee for a fortnight

If you one of the many people who like to start their day off by having a cup of coffee, then McDonald’s might just have a deal for you – but only if you act quickly.

From next Tuesday (September 16^th) through America’s National Coffee Day (September 29^th), the retailer famed for their golden arches will be offering customers a free (small) coffee during their breakfast trading hours.

Only while stocks last and only at participating restaurants, obviously.

Free is free, but we imagine that the fast food chain will have an uphill battle in attracting large swathes of new customers through their doors. After all, the McCafe range does have a certain unwarranted stigma attached to it.

Okay, so it might not be the best coffee available. But for its regular price of $1, give or take, it can’t really be faulted if you’re in need of a quick caffeine boost and are saving cents rather than willingly putting them towards $5 lattes.

“A free cup of coffee goes a long way in helping get [people’s] days started…[and] that’s why we want to treat customers once again so they can taste for themselves just how great their mornings can be with a cup of McCafe coffee,” said the senior vice president of McDonald’s American Menu Innovation, Greg Watson.

Alongside this coffee concession, McDonald’s are asking for patrons to head onto social media and “sip and tell” some embarrassing pre-coffee stories.

Hopefully these won’t be X-rated tales, but knowing how these things work that is probably what is going to happen in a large number of cases. Instead the company is hoping people will share tales such as “without a coffee, I keep missing the train to work!” and other such hilarious cartoon-style capers.

Selected tweeters will be bestowed with custom McCafe gifts, prizes and experiences.

Of course, this isn’t McDonald’s being overly generous: they are attempting to gain further ground in the brutal and often uncompromising cash cow that is the morning coffee rush.

McCafe was launched in 2009 and alongside their breakfast menu it has become a key area of their business plan moving forwards. This coffee giveaway, their second event of such a nature, will hopefully tempt a few extra people into their stores to grab some food and a free drink.

Such is the weight behind McCafe at the moment; McDonald’s are hoping to be entering the grocery market in the new future by selling branded bags of beans and K-cups.

So, will you be heading down to the Golden Arches for your morning cup of coffee?

Photo: Knokton (Flickr), used under CC