I just hate the way, as you point out, the commercial implies that wanting to avoid that type of possibly intimidating or pretentious environment means also being “free” to wear short skirts and heels…as though you don’t see either of those things at Starbucks. Why wouldn’t NOT wearing heels be more “authentic” than wearing them? It’s a really bizarre mixture of items that are portrayed as authentic and “real.”

To be fair, though, I don’t think McDonalds is just inventing a demographic here. I have had friends who felt awkward and out of place in coffee shops and were much more comfortable ordering food at McDonalds (because they grew up eating fast food and coffee shops were new to them). To them, I am sure, trying to fit into the “intellectual” cafe vibe felt like posing.

I also never eat at McDonald’s. I’ve got better things to do with my body than stuff my face full of greasy toadburgers, and I refuse to eat in venues that smell like dirty diapers.

So I guess I’m entirely not in their target demographic. Good thing I also stopped watching television years ago…

As far as the success of this anti-intellectual advertising, I only need drive by McDonalds after 10 on a Friday night to see the kind of people who consider that the happening place to be.

(See also: café torrefacto. John Hooper describes the local coffee in The New Spaniards as “the gastronomic equivalent of Semtex”)

FWIW, it never ceases to amuse me that tapas are an intellectual/ trendy kind of food in the States.

For instance, here in New Zealand, there is a strong ‘espresso culture’ that barely seems to have been dented by the introduction of Starbucks into the marketplace 10 years ago. As such, McCafé markets itself as a rival to your local espresso house by advertising itself as upmarket, indulgent and luxurious (see http://www.mcdonalds.co.nz/mccafe/promotions.asp) – but with the convenience of a McDonalds. This ad emphasises that in the way that it marks one of the (upper middle class white) women as laughable and gauche for not ‘understanding’ the concept. Rather than attacking the perceived elitism (socio-economic and otherwise) of cafés, McCafé aspires to this ideal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-d6u1TjaaU