Sunday’s Game of Thrones episode “The Last of the Starks” had it all – victorious celebrations, betrayal, romance, brutal deaths, fire-breathing dragons, and…a latte from Starbucks?
Millions of viewers flocked to social media to point out the coffee cup that was clearly out of place among the metal goblets filled with wine at the Winterfell feast. Some Twitter users joked about the coffee cup on set while others speculated if it was intentional product placement. After all, how could the entire cast, the directors, the camera operators, the production assistants, and the post-production team all overlook the 21st century cup that was fully visible in front of Daenerys Targaryen?
Believe it or not, that’s exactly what happened.
On Monday, HBO issued a statement confirming the coffee cup cameo was a mistake. First, the network playfully said, “In response to inquiries from those who saw a craft services coffee cup in Sunday night’s episode of Game of Thrones, the latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”
Later, the show’s executive producer, Bernie Caulfield, spoke to WNYC to express her disbelief that the cup made it on screen, “Our onset prop people and decorators are so on it, one thousand percent. Nowadays you can’t believe what you see because people can put things into a photo that really doesn’t exist, but I guess maybe it was there, I’m not sure,” she said. “We’re sorry!”
While fans were up in arms about the gaffe, an art director for Game of Thrones, Hauke Richter, didn’t see what all the fuss was about. “Things can get forgotten on set. [The coffee cup error has been] so blown out of proportion [because] it has not happened with Thrones so far,” Richter said in an email to Variety.
In honor of the mishap, Starbucks took the golden opportunity to tweet about the cup and promote its Dragon Drink, which is now a permanent item on its menu.
If you missed the infamous coffee cup at the 17:40 minute mark, you won’t be able to find it again on HBO Go or HBO Now – the network already removed it with the magic of video editing. (However, if you’re searching for other GoT filming goofs that aired in earlier seasons, there are still quite a few.)
Marketing mistakes can clearly happen anywhere, even in Westeros. Do you have a strategic communications plan in place? If not, contact us to see how we can help!