To be part of the event, all you need to do is take your friend to a participating hangout and order two coffees. While sipping, each of you write a couple of verses about your friendship, using the same paper sheet provided for the Meet With A Poem event. Each pair can redeem their writing for a cup of coffee, so you get two for the price of one.
“With communication now defined by swipes and clicks, our friendships are suffering, existing primarily on apps and networking sites,” writes Julius Meinl on their website.“The Meet With A Poem initiative aims to help bring people together in real life.”
Meanwhile, this Monday event also comes with a contest: if you take a photo of your poetic undertaking and submit the picture to meinlcoffee.com on October 1st, you get a chance to have your verse turned into a song. This year, the company teamed up with platinum-selling singer JP Cooper of September Song fame.
As global ambassador of Julius Meinl, Cooper says: “It is easy to lose sight of the power of language when we communicate on WhatsApp or by text, and I hope that the initiative will help more people to favour real-world friendship and realise that language – verbal or written – has the ability to build stronger, more heart-felt connections”.
Caffeinated drinks that can be ordered as part of the campaign include ristretto, espresso, double espresso, espresso macchiato, Americano, cortado, cappuccino, caffè latte, latte macchiato and melange. The offer will be available at Akvárium, Cziniel Café, Dunapark Café, Európa Café, KIOSK, Nem Adom Fel Café, at both TGI Fridays restaurants and at all Vian cafés.
For the promotion, you can also submit a piece by your favourite poet – just make sure you include the name of the writer.
This is not the first time that Julius Meinl has organised such a project. On World Poetry Day in March, the company also encouraged guests to swap coins for prose to get a free coffee.
