Coffee and Adventure Blend in Comic Book

Brant Boersma from Dutch Bros. coffee chain is a self-proclaimed comic geek, if not a coffee geek. He recently fulfilled a dream of producing a comic book for the coffee chain co-founded by his father. It is now available free in seven states at 159 Dutch Bros. coffee shops. Boersma started out with characters he thought up, which were put on stickers for the kids who came to his coffee shops. The popularity of the characters inspired him to do something more with them, and to a comic geek, the comic book was a natural outlet for this creativity. The characters become involved with a dragon, a cow and others in an action-packed story. Though the cover illustration shows the human characters holding coffee cups from the chain, the story is not about coffee. It’s about loving life and friends, says Boersma. He intended it to appeal to kids, of course, but also to adults. It’s something light to read while sipping your latte, after all. There are lots of adult comic geeks in America, and not all of them are comic book collectors in it just for the investment. An interesting side story to this is the comment one blogger made. He brought up the issue of whether the coffee shop is marketing coffee to kids through this comic. Dutch Bros. also sells other kid-related items at their shops, items which have nothing to do with coffee. Are kids going to become hooked on coffee through such items? The blogger references some research that is showing coffee to be beneficial to children as it is to adults. Caffeine is known to cause sleepiness in hyperactive children, (and adults), surprisingly. Coffee’s potential for health benefits is just being discovered, so it’s effect on children is a definite need for more research. There is a second story ready to be put into a sequel, if customers receive the first effort well. Boersma is excited that he has birthed his dream. It could be a stroke of marketing genius, but whether it is or not, it is an inspiring blend of a person’s two loves, coffee and comics. Boersma has demonstrated that in life, as well as in coffee, some elements in blends just seem made for each other.