The other day I stopped in Starbucks and ordered a coffee and a muffin. My muffin was packaged in the bag above. I read the copy printed on the outside of the bag. I almost couldn’t believe it. I read it once … then again. It read like it’s written by an 8 year old kid!

Here is the copy as it appears on the bag:

Hi,
We’re making a change. Using simpler
recipes and taking out artificial
ingredients. So your food not only
tastes better, it is better. It’s a good
start. But we think it’s a good one
Hope you do too  Enjoy.

Your Friends at Starbucks

P.S. More to come.

Missing punctuation, capitalization errors and overall – it lacks style!

Starbucks finally gets a clue — they start selling decent coffee!
When Starbucks recently introduced its new smoother coffee “Pike Place Roast“, I have to say that I was very skeptical. Let’s face it, Starbucks was more famous for it’s specialty coffee drinks than for its coffee. Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonalds and a slew of other coffee hucksters have beaten Starbucks in blind taste tests. McDonalds is knee deep in the coffee game and is certainly having an effect on Starbuck’s market share.

With that said, I have to say that I was very surprised. The coffee was delicious and every bit as good as the marketing campaign that accompanied it. The main issue that I have had with drinking Starbucks coffee in the past is how incredibly bitter it was. Not the case with “Pike Place.” It’s bold, smooth and very tasty. Ahh, the return to the days of old — when Starbucks was known for it’s coffee. There is also a throwback with the original siren logo that appears on the coffee cups. Kudos to Starbucks for pulling a winning clue out of the cluebag.

Also see:
Starbucks finally switches to free Wi-Fi!
Starbucks Sleeve
Jackhole goes to Starbucks
Do Starbucks corporate employees get free coffee?
Akeelah and the Bee and the Starbucks employee

Starbucks ditches the overpriced T-mobile Wi-Fi service for free AT&T service and I couldn’t be happier. A smart decision no doubt made by once again CEO Howard Schultz. More from this Associated Press article:

SEATTLE (AP) — Starbucks Corp. and AT&T Inc. will start offering a mix of free and paid wireless Internet service in most of the global coffee retailer’s U.S. shops, beginning this spring.

The move announced Monday ends a six-year Starbucks partnership with T-Mobile, which did not include free Wi-Fi and charged higher fees than AT&T will.

Starbucks said it will give customers who use a Starbucks purchase card two hours of free wireless access per day. More time than that will cost $3.99 for a two-hour session. Monthly memberships will cost $19.99 and include access to any of AT&T’s 70,000 hot spots worldwide.

Nearly all of AT&T’s broadband Internet customers, about 12 million, will automatically have unlimited free Wi-Fi access at Starbucks, the companies said.

The deal boosts the number of AT&T hotspots in the U.S. to 17,000 — the most in the nation.

Two hours free per day. Now that’s fair. It makes sense to charge more to patrons who wish to call Starbucks their office. Freeloaders!

This is a huge blow to T-mobile. But moreover, what was Starbucks thinking? Most modern food retailers offer free Wi-Fi to entice customers into their restaurant. Starbucks was exploiting their customers. Cheers to Howie. Glad to see you back at the helm!

Also see:
Starbucks Sleeve
Jackhole goes to Starbucks
Do Starbucks corporate employees get free coffee?
Akeelah and the Bee and the Starbucks employee

I think it’s great that Starbucks is committed to the environment. Shouldn’t every organization be concerned about it? Of course they should. Okay, sounds great so far. What about this:

Starbucks is committed to reducing our environmental impact through increased use of post-consumer recycled materials. Help us help the planet.

WHAT? Talk about buzzword central. Here’s what they’re really saying “We love the planet. That’s why this sleeve is made of recycled material. We wanted you to know. We want you to know that we’re thinking about the environment, okay?”

Wouldn’t it be easier if they just said “Recycled sleeve” or “We’re smart enough to recycle, you should too.”

Here’s where it gets confusing for me:

First-ever 10% post-consumer fiber cup
60% post-consumer fiber sleeve

HUH? What is that supposed to mean? It’s the first ever post-consumer cup and it’s only 10%? Shouldn’t it at least be 50%. I’m not sure what post-consumer fiber is but I’m not that impressed that it’s only 10%.

This is an interesting line:

Intended for single use only.

Hmmm. I hope they don’t mean use it once then toss it? That wouldn’t be very cool.

Also see:
Jackhole goes to Starbucks
Do Starbucks corporate employees get free coffee?
Akeelah and the Bee and the Starbucks employee

I stopped by my local Starbucks for a Venti Chai Latte today. Upon entering the Starbucks I couldn’t help but notice ALL the ads for the movie “Akeelah and the Bee“. First I noticed all the signs on the windows. Each sign depicted a different winning spelling bee word from various years. They all had bright green backgrounds with large words reversed out like “shalloon” – winning word from the 1971 spelling bee. They had a travel edition of Scrabble that had “akeelah and the bee” spelled out on playing board. A very crafty ploy but perhaps a bit over the top. Okay, I get it. Starbucks is now shoveling movies down my throat. I guess it wasn’t it enough that I frequent the store to buy an overpriced tea or coffee. Now they need to make more money by putting advertising all over the place.

As I sauntered up to the counter to place my order, a lovely young girl asked if she could get a drink ready for me. I asked for a Venti Chai Latte. She asked my name so she could write it on the cup. I replied “Akeelah” She said “REALLY?” I said “No”. “With all the advertising about “Akeelah and the Bee, I thought it was only fitting to have a hand written advertisement.” So she says “great!” and proceeds to write my so-called-name on the cup.

When the barrista finished preparing my drink she announced “Akeelah?” “Akeelah?” I picked up my drink and noticed that the girl who had originally written the name on the cup actually SPELLED IT WRONG. Interestingly enough the movie is about a spelling bee. The wrapper that’s on the cup has the movie name on it. Funny enough, there are signs all over the store. How ironic that a movie about a spelling bee and that has signs and tons of advertising should be spelled wrong by a Starbucks employee! Nice attention to detail.

A more interesting movie may be Akeelah and the Bee and a Starbucks employee. Yeah, that’s a movie I would go to see.