Yellow Light Coffee & Donuts

Yellow Light Coffee & Donuts—the best coffee-and-donut chain in Detroit—opened its newest location inside Michigan Central Station at the end of 2024, becoming the first food-and-beverage tenant in the historic train station in more than four decades.

To mark the moment, we wanted to have a little fun, make a little noise, and give the opening the attention it deserved.

We started with the design and naming for a limited-edition coffee blend, Detroit Depot. But we didn’t stop there.

We brought Yellow Light’s signature donut aroma to life with the world’s largest scratch-and-sniff billboard, inviting passersby to stop and take a whiff. (We promise, it smelled good.)

Still not done.

We capped off the summer with Dronuts™ (yes,™) —a cross-city stunt where donuts were delivered by drone. In partnership with our friends at Michigan Central, Newlab, Aerialoop, Airspace Link, and Code 313, we celebrated National Donut Day in the most Detroit way possible.

Launching from the roof of Newlab, we flew donuts across the city to construction workers at Ralph C. Wilson Park for their morning coffee break. Then we turned our attention to a VIP: the Mayor of Detroit, who received his own drone-delivered donut at Hart Plaza—marking the longest commercial drone flight in Michigan history.

Not bad for a little coffee (and donut) that could.