With Superbowl Wounds Still Fresh, Seattle Buys Coffee for Denver

Photo by Visit Seattle

As a consumer, I would imagine it a strange surprise waking up Monday morning in Denver, heading to a local coffee shop and having it explained that my coffee was free, courtesy of the city of Seattle.

Is this some kind of belated Superbowl crowing? What gives?

Well, the coffees that went to hundreds of patrons yesterday morning at a handful of coffee shops in Denver and Salt Lake City were actually part of a promotion by Visit Seattle and its “2 Days in Seattle” campaign, paid for by tourism taxes from 50-plus Seattle hotels. Cup sleeves on the free coffees read:

Make the Ultimate Coffee Run. Plan Your Trip. 2 Days in Seattle.

What will you do with your 2?

Ali Daniels, vice president of marketing at Visit Seattle, told the Puget Sound Business Journal that the promotion was unannounced, so as to create a pleasant surprise on a Monday morning. “Coffee and our city are virtually synonymous, so what better way than to start the week off with free coffee,” she said in a statement.