IBM TV Ad Boils Down The Value Of Blockchain To A Critical Question About Your Morning Coffee

Supply chain processes rarely make for prime-time TV viewing, but a new commercial from IBM tells a story that connects blockchain and coffee to show what it can bring to accurate inventory tracking.

In a clip called “Smart Supply Chain,” Big Blue takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of single-origin Kenyon coffee from its original harvesting, across an ocean liner and into the cup of an everyday consumer in a North American cafe.

“How do you really know that the beans journeyed to the port of Mumbassa and across the Pacific?” the clip’s voiceover asks, hinting at the immutable nature of data that’s entered on a blockchain.

The clip also shows a container with the Maersk logo, referencing the supply chain partnership between the two firms using blockchain.

This is only one in a series of IBM blockchain TV ads. The firm has been running similar clips that show how the technology is used to track tomatoes and other goods.