Remember all that free stuff you could collect on Election Day if you told people you voted? Well, yeah, technically that's illegal because you can't bribe people into voting. So instead many of these promotions had to change their deal to, "If you show up on Election Day, you just have to ask for the item and we'll give it to you, whether you voted or not." And Starbucks had to pull a bunch of their ads at the last minute.
But no matter! The coffee giant still made out like a bandit for the cross-promotion with our democratic rights, in the form of free shoutouts on the news. The giveaway cost less than $1 million in free coffee, but you know what they say, good advertising is priceless.
Although, Starbucks might have been sneakily trying to save some money all across this great state of ours by discouraging their patriotic customers from receiving free cups of joe.
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Because you didn't have enough reason to vote besides imagining Sarah Palin being a "heartbeat" away from the presidency, here is your list of free shwag you can pick up at participating sponsors for doing you civic duty.
• For the porn-obsessed voter: No, it's not a copy of that Sarah Palin Hustler video. But go to Babeland and pick up your free vibrator, or for men, "McCain Maverick Sleeve." “He’s always there to lend a hand, he works for every man, and he bucks the status quo.” Gross.
• For the tweaker voter: Starbucks is giving away a free cup of coffee for voters. Try to hit all 500 locations in New York and relive your wild ride in the amphetamine-fueled 80's when you accidentally voted for Dukakis.
• For the lonely hearts: Ben & Jerry's and Krispy Kreme will be giving out free ice-cream and donuts for all of those who need comfort food before turning in for the night and watching the polls close…alone.
• For the Lydia Hearst voters: French Connection and Trina Turk are offering discounts with proof of voting (battle scars perhaps?)
So hurry up and vote already, because by this time next week we will be living in a Socialist America, and in Socialist America ice-cream eats you.
Starbucks' new employee policy requires "full-time partners" to make themselves available to work any hour their store is open, or 80.5 hours per week — but does not guarantee them a single working hour. [TBM]
Halloween isn't even over yet and marketers are already worried about Christmas. As well they should be: If the past three months have been any indication, things are going to get progressively worse before they (hopefully!) get any better. And that means families having to scrimp and save this holiday season, which means no more lavish tree, no more unending gallons of eggnog, and most importantly, no more $800 video game consoles for every little boy and girl.
And with companies already feeling the pinch in their ad department, how will Christmas be sold this year, on the saddest, most commercial-free celebration of Christ's birth in recent memory?
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You don't need Malcolm Gladwell or those Freakonomics guys to tell you that Americans love to have their economy lessons consumed in small, bite-sized pop culture nuggets. So when your country's finances are failing and you have to drink a iced triple shot, no foam, extra tall, sea-salt caramel macchiato just to get out of bed and into another horrific day at the office, you have to ask yourself: Is there any sort of cutesy, over-simplified analogy that someone could sell me on to explain why my retirement fund has disappeared overnight?
And if you are Daniel Gross, you look down into your iced over sweetened Starbucks beverage and say, "Bingo:"
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It used to be, you walked into a Starbucks, pretended not to notice the smell of egg breakfast sandwiches, considered buying the New York Times but opted for ink-free hands instead of knowledge, and ordered a $4 drink with no fewer than three adjectives. Now, you will walk into a Starbucks and feel guilty. That's because the coffee giant, fresh off installing those Clover machines that are short enough to let you stare down your barista who hasn't yet started on your beverage, will begin stocking its stores with a one-sheet from Good magazine, the uppity rag with the despicable editorial mission of making this world a better place. CONTINUED »
New York City (and other, less worthwhile parts of the United States) isn't the only region entering a Starbucks drought: In Australia, the coffee chain is closing three-quarters of its stores. While we're seeing some 600 stores close in the U.S., that figure represents just five percent of our total latte epicenters. Down under, the 61 of Australia's 84 shops that are closing is a full 72 percent of their shops, leaving only three areas left that Starbucks will focus on: Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Think they're done closing up shops? Likely not. There are 400 stores in the United Kingdom alone, and some 15,000 stores in 47 countries. Worldwide, consumers might one day face the possibility of … having to buy less expensive coffee.
Based on population numbers from 2006, New York City's six Starbucks closures will affect 1,369,071 per shuttered store. In Los Angeles, it's 1,924,689. Careful with your math there: The higher the number, the less it'll impact you.
Poor Orange Grove, Florida, then; three Starbucks are closing in a town of 9,106, or one for every 3,035 people.
So, are you really going to miss your neighborhood latte fix? Slate wants you to write a freakin' testimonial for it. Indeed, Starbucks obituaries.
So, um, we might've accidentally lied to you (but 'twas not our fault!) and given you reason to feel safe and secure in this town when, in fact, you should be FREAKING OUT! A previous report said that of the 600 stores Starbucks is closing, the only one in NYC would be on Staten Island. Wrong.
In fact, the very Starbucks you hit up every morning for your triple shot latte might be gone by the middle of next year. CONTINUED »
Of the 600 stores Starbucks announced it would close, only three are in New York State. Two are out on Long Island (one in Central Islip, one in Southold). The third is on Staten Island. Breathe that sigh of relief, NYC. [Newsday]
"I'm so happy. I'm so not a Starbucks person. I believe in supporting small businesses. Starbucks, bye-bye." —One not terribly upset person upon learning Starbucks is closing 600 stores. [Reuters]
Know what you get when you build a customer base around Americans who are all hopped up on caffeine? Jittery complainers with a nervous tick called whining. Ever since Starbucks began trying to turn around the company — shorter coffee machine to see customers, actually brewing espresso, fewer music offerings to reduce clutter, launching a social network-y website — the company's execs have seen what change can wrought: Pissed off consumers. And with its new Pike Place Roast, which replaced the trio of brews Starbucks used to regularly served, the addicted masses who throw at least a couple bucks Starbucks' way are revolting. CONTINUED »
As part of the lesson it learned in trying to offer customers everything at once, Starbucks, which as seen same-store sales dip for the first time ever, will lighten the load in at least one category: music. Though it moved some 4.4. million records last year (or a little over 4X the number of albums Lil' Wayne moved in a single week), it will drop from the dozen-plus CDs it offers at any time to about four as part of a "less is more" way of thinking. The coffee chain will continue selling music in a partnership with iTunes, which means if you're a Starbucks Card member, get a cup of coffee, and make use of the two free hours of WiFi that comes with it, you're still welcome to bombard yourself with too many music offerings.
We haven't seen these cups at Starbucks, so we can only assume their dreamy nature is a concept only. But here's the gimmick, as handed down by the cup's creator, the Natural Resources Defense Council: To promote that left-y concern known as climate change, these cups change in color when filled with a hot liquid.
Like so: At rest, the exterior of the cup is green, showing a lush green planet filled with rainforests and Central Parks as far as the eye can see. But what happens when you pour a skim half-caf vanilla latte inside? The heat reacts with the cup, turning those green pastures into an ugly brown, like desertification might look like if this planet keeps warming!
Aaah! Feeling bad about the environment! At 7am with your first dose of caffeine! This world is unjust.
(Click image for larger version)
Two more ways to ruin your morning by overdosing on green awareness, below. CONTINUED »
David Beckham named his kid after it. Why not Starbucks? And so it is, meet The Brooklyn, the newest thing to sip at everyone's least favorite McCoffeeshop, inspired by high school girls with too much free time.
So what are the special ingredients? Well, you take a vanilla bean frappuccino, and then add … more sugar. Sure, it's 40 cents more ($4.90 for a venti) and 20 more calories (620!) than your standard frapp, but there's celebrity factor: Denzel Washington and John Travolta reportedly sampled the bev while filming The Taking of Pelham 123.
Said Park Slope resident Tanya Mikula, who has nothing else to live for: "It’s the latest craze. Everyone’s talking about it."
Ah yes, The Booklyn: June 2008's plastic neon sunglasses.
"Starbucks said Wednesday that it had resolved a dispute with T-Mobile stemming from the coffee chain's recent launch of free Wi-Fi through AT&T. Details of the settlement were not made public, but a Starbucks spokesperson said the coffee chain will continue to offer customers up to two hours of free Wi-Fi each day via AT&T.
"Last week, T-Mobile sued to block the deal. Starbucks had announced in February that AT&T would replace T-Mobile as Wi-Fi provider for the coffee chain, but the process was supposed to be gradual, according to T-Mobile's lawsuit." [MP]
What's worse: That the Wall Street Journal has the time and resources to investigate whether Starbucks actually does have 87,000 drink combinations, or that a company thinks its customers actually want 87,000 different things to order? [WSJ]
Also: Now it seems Apple is getting in trouble for its own numbers claims. The new iMac desktop monitor, which marketing material claims delivers "millions of colors," actually only spits out 262,144 colors. And now they're being sued. [Adrants]
Is Starbucks' social networking plan MyStarbucksIdea.com really as terrible a Starbucks idea as it sounds? Affirmative. [Social Media]
Just after announcing plans to save its share price – including launching social networking site mystarbucksidea.com, because that's worked so well for others – Starbucks is on the losing end of 2004 lawsuit claiming supervisors were taking an unfair share of tips. The coffee giant must pay $100 million to baristas for stealing $86 million in gratuities, plus interest. [AP]
Editorial Director
