A promotion offering coffee at prices from a by-gone era is proving detrimental to a Seattle-area franchise as customers take the deal and run with it.

Remember that old commercial about “time to make the donuts?” In Seattle, it’s time to start buying them.

Late last year, we told you that Krispy Kreme stores in the Seattle area would start selling its signature roast coffees at the Depression-era price of just $0.05 for a 12-ounce cup. The company called the plan the “New Deal” (oh, the irony) and made a commitment to take their coffee prices back to what they were when the donut chain opened in 1937.

Initially, the promotion helped Krispy Kreme increase their coffee sales by 229 percent. The local franchise expanded the deal to include not just the 5-cent cups, but also a 16-ounce size for 10 cents and a 20-ounce size for 15 cents. Donut sales also increased and area franchise president Gerard Centioli said the deal would continue “as long as we can afford to do it.”

There’s always a catch

Well, it’s starting look like they can no longer afford it. The Seattle Times is reporting that customers in some locations must now make an additional purchase to get the cheap coffee deal. It’s said to be a test to decide how to continue the pricing in other Northwest stores.

“[Some stores] were experiencing a level of coffee-only purchases which will cause us to either require a purchase or discontinue the program. If the test becomes permanent, we will develop marketing materials to communicate the change to our guests,” franchise president Gerard Centioli said.

In other words, the campaign seems to be costing Krispy Kreme more than it’s making on the “deal,” which is understandable considering that the franchise probably doesn’t have the rent and overhead costs they would have had back in 1937 when a 10-cent cup of coffee made sense.

I can honestly believe that things are that bad off in certain areas of the country, but wouldn’t you think customers would start to feel guilty after a while for only paying five to ten cents for something that costs ten times that price elsewhere? Especially in Seattle. Shouldn’t there be some kind of moral ethic involved with taking advantage of a company clearly trying to sell donuts by selling cheaper coffee? No? Ok, just checking.

Maybe the Centioli should take a look at what he said back when the promotion began and then decide what to do:

“This is Krispy Kreme’s New Deal,” he said. “If we can give people something to feel good about in a time when there aren’t a lot of things to feel good about, then that’s us doing our part.

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