We took Flat White or F*ck Off to MAD//Fest. It was brilliant.
Well… that was fun.
For three days, we swapped commuter coffee queues for marketers, founders, creatives and anyone else wandering around MAD//Fest looking for either inspiration… or caffeine. Thankfully, we had both.
MAD//Fest felt like the perfect place for Flat White or F*ck Off. After all, we’re not really just selling coffee. We’re selling an idea. One product. No unnecessary choices. No overcomplicated menus. Just a properly good flat white, served fast.
Turns out that resonates with marketers more than you’d think.
We spent the week chatting to people about branding, behavioural science, simplicity, customer experience and why sometimes the best strategy is doing fewer things, better. Somewhere between all that, we also served a lot of flat whites.
We met people who’d been following the journey since Rory first floated the idea. Others had never heard of us until they spotted the name across the festival and wandered over thinking, “I need to know what this is about.”
Exactly the reaction we were hoping for.
One of the highlights was seeing Charlie take to the stage to share the story behind Flat White or F*ck Off. From a throwaway podcast idea to a real brand with pop-ups, partnerships, merchandise and thousands of coffees served, it’s still slightly surreal saying it out loud. But seeing people genuinely engage with the story reminded us why we’ve documented the journey from day one.
The conversations didn’t stop when the talks finished either. We met potential partners, future collaborators and plenty of people who simply appreciated that in a world obsessed with adding more, we’d built something around taking almost everything away.
That’s kind of the point.
A huge thank you to everyone who came over for a coffee, stopped for a chat, took a photo, shared the story or simply laughed at the name. And to the MAD//Fest team for putting together another brilliantly chaotic celebration of creativity, marketing and big ideas.
If this week taught us anything, it’s that simplicity still cuts through.
Now it’s back to building.
Flat white or… well, you know the rest.
Follow the journey
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