Three Writers for 'The Simpsons' Created a Starbucks Animated Series
Introducing ‘1st & Main.’
Motivated by their own trips to Starbucks, three writers best known for their work on The Simpsons have banded together to create a series for the popular coffee shop chain. Hard at work on a new film project, Joel Cohen, Rob LaZebnik and John Frink spent their early morning hours working together at a Los Angeles Starbucks. The creative-minded individuals noticed a severe lack of “entertainment” when it comes to the corporate website that awaits Starbucks’ hordes of free Wi-Fi consumers. Finding inspiration from the lackluster experience, the trio decided to whip up an animated series exclusively for patrons attempting to access the company’s Wi-Fi.
“We noticed that it might be fun to have some animation thing on this landing page,” LaZebnik explained to Adweek. “Every Simpsons script I’ve written, I’d say 75 percent of it has been written in a Starbucks—we’ve all been at them for a long time, and then collectively at this one for three years,” added Cohen. The end result of the three writers’ brainstorming: 1st & Main.
Introduced today via its lead trailer, the animated series will follow the lives of animals-turned-Starbucks-archetypes, including know-it-all customer Chet, main barista Diego and local Starbucks manager Susan. Scheduled to debut on Starbucks’s official website on Friday, December 16, 1st & Main will begin appearing on its Wi-Fi pages starting in January. You can take a first look at the new offering above.
