24 Hour Party People
On principle, I'm not what you'd call a supporter of big business, though I do most of my shopping at Target. I patronize the locally owned grocery chain, however, and try to avoid corporate synergy and marketing as much as I can without getting silly about it.
But I have to be honest: I love Starbucks. More than I ought.
I realize that they are marketing an "experience", that they are trying to appeal to the middle-class-social-climbing-snob in me, that it is a BoBo (bohemian bourgeois) paradise. People say their coffee is over-priced (yeah, kind of) and doesn't taste good (I disagree: Sumatra and Gold Coast and Sidamo are nectar of the gods. Verona is, however, a brew of Satan.).
But Starbucks is also an oasis of sanity in a mad world. Their greedy corporate reach adds several joys to my life:
1. Because it is a corporation, the coffee quality is always the same. I know exactly what I'm getting. If I'm bothering to buy coffee while I'm out and about, I don't want to wonder if it's going to be good enough to justify the cost, and I want to know exactly what it's going to taste like. Starbucks delivers on this.
2. Because they are so large and well-known, they've reached into markets whose highest quality joe previous to Starbucks was the instant machine at Burger King. I am not a coffee snob (I generally drink Folger's at home), but I cannot drink it below a certain standard. If I wanted brown hot water, I'd drink tea. (Actually, I like tea, too, but not when I'm expecting coffee.)
3. People are so addicted to Starbucks that now there is a market for 24-hour locations. TWENTY-FOUR HOURS! This is brilliant. There is one not a mile from where I live.
I just got back late at night from a trip where my only coffee opportunity for 3 hours was a 24-hour Starbucks in the middle of nowhere. I was so tired I barely made it there, but was wide-awake the rest of the trip.
Of course, 24-hour caffeine availability does have its drawbacks. Like trying to get to sleep tonight.
But I have to be honest: I love Starbucks. More than I ought.
I realize that they are marketing an "experience", that they are trying to appeal to the middle-class-social-climbing-snob in me, that it is a BoBo (bohemian bourgeois) paradise. People say their coffee is over-priced (yeah, kind of) and doesn't taste good (I disagree: Sumatra and Gold Coast and Sidamo are nectar of the gods. Verona is, however, a brew of Satan.).
But Starbucks is also an oasis of sanity in a mad world. Their greedy corporate reach adds several joys to my life:
1. Because it is a corporation, the coffee quality is always the same. I know exactly what I'm getting. If I'm bothering to buy coffee while I'm out and about, I don't want to wonder if it's going to be good enough to justify the cost, and I want to know exactly what it's going to taste like. Starbucks delivers on this.
2. Because they are so large and well-known, they've reached into markets whose highest quality joe previous to Starbucks was the instant machine at Burger King. I am not a coffee snob (I generally drink Folger's at home), but I cannot drink it below a certain standard. If I wanted brown hot water, I'd drink tea. (Actually, I like tea, too, but not when I'm expecting coffee.)
3. People are so addicted to Starbucks that now there is a market for 24-hour locations. TWENTY-FOUR HOURS! This is brilliant. There is one not a mile from where I live.
I just got back late at night from a trip where my only coffee opportunity for 3 hours was a 24-hour Starbucks in the middle of nowhere. I was so tired I barely made it there, but was wide-awake the rest of the trip.
Of course, 24-hour caffeine availability does have its drawbacks. Like trying to get to sleep tonight.
posted by Violet at 10:01 PM
4 Comments:
Ya'wanna play, ya' gotta pay.
--ma
I have never been into a Starbucks..it's the truth! There isn't one in my town...I have no idea about the different coffees you can get. I'm a coffee idiot!
P/S:
Your living in the UK makes a difference, I'm sure. When I was there 10 years ago, it was a miracle to get anything but INSTANT coffee (ugh!). People must never have tasted decent coffee, or they wouldn't put up with instant. No wonder everyone drinks tea.
Of course, that might be outdated by now, especially in larger cities. The long arm of Starbucks may reach much further than either of us suspects.
You're right about British coffee! But...Starbuck's is here all right...what you do first we follow like the slavish dogs we are!lol!
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