How Advertising Invented 'Coffee Break' in 1950s?

Do you like coffee breaks? I believe you do...

Its a ritual in the day to day office work culture.

Our brain is so relaxed when we think of these breaks.

So, how it started?

The term coffee break was first coined in an Ad Campaign of Pan American Bureau.

During the 1950s the sell of coffee was decreasing exponentially. To turn the tide, the coffee growing nations of South America and the major coffee companies in United States together form Pan American Bureau. They invested about 2 million dollar a year into making Americans love coffee again. To do this they recruited sociologist John B. Watson.

Watson noticed that during World War 2, some factories started giving their employees a couple of minutes off every shift, during which time some of these workers would drink a quick cup of coffee to wake themselves up. Figuring that, he ran a massive series of advertisements to get people on board with the new coffee break idea.

His ads featuring happy people sitting around and conspicuously not working, all while drinking coffee.

Getting people to refer, their morning break as a coffee break was enough to cement the idea that if you consumed anything else but coffee on that break, you were screwing it up.

By the end of the first year, 80 percent of business were giving their employees a short break as coffee break. Not “tea” break, not “soft drink” break, not “eat or drink whatever you want” break but coffee break.

Ad Campaign urged people to “Give yourself a Coffee-Break — and Get What Coffee Gives to You” as well as proposed “Good things happen over coffee”. And it become so successful that it changed the history of advertisements and give people, during their hectic work schedule, few minutes of happiness :)

In India, though we are more comfortable hearing Chai (tea) or Sutta (cigarette) break.

Image sources- Google images