Thanks to the apparent influence of adman Dan Wieden, Starbucks is buying TV airtime. It's a first for the company, although current plans call for spending only a fraction of what its competitors spend.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company "likes to think of itself as a collection of thousands of corner cafes that sponsor the local zoo and have baristas who know their customers' favorite drinks." (It's hard to believe company executives still believe that.) Executives have considered it a badge of honor that the company has made limited use of traditional media. So there is some risk that the company undermines its image by adopting a more blatant marketing approach.

While its holiday spots are sweetly animated, Wieden + Kennedy has developed an edgier idea that "would show Americans discussing issues of importance to them and depict Starbucks coffee shops as the living room of the national conversation."

Last week Starbucks announced that the average number of transactions in its U.S. stores fell for the first time in the most recent quarter.

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