Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Maybe this makes me a bad person, but I chose Starbucks over local coffee shops because the drink I wanted was around $2.50 instead of almost $5. Now that they stopped all the perks, I won't be going to ANY coffee shops. I only go get coffee when I want something fancy since I have good coffee at home. Where am I going to study?! The library?!

Yeah, if it were as simple as local places making great, affordable coffee I would've never been at Starbucks to begin with. I'm not exactly a brand hors d'oeuvre or anything.... I'm not boycotting anyone, I'm just not going to be a regular anywhere. I think that's okay?

So you'll be playing the coffee field.

The only choice left with soy milk that I'm aware of around here is Whole Foods and a truly blech local chain called Rockin' Joe. And there are a gabillion vegans around here, so what gives?

No matter how many one-cup stops it takes, I won't stop until I find the right one.

You can stroll by the happy meat and the fancy cheese while you drink your coffee! Maybe even see ostrich eggs! Ponder libertarian politics as well! Purchasing decisions are never simplistic.

Corporations are driven by profit and a duty to their shareholders - not to please the 2% of the population that is vegan. If the perk cost too much and didn't make financial sense, of course they ended it. If soy milk represented a significant percentage of Starbucks' drinks, they would build the cost into the fancy coffees. I get that it peas people off; what I don't get is the outrage and energy expended on the issue as if we are talking about warantless searches or closing libraries. Big, serious issues get little play but a corporation ending a perk designed to increase their profits? Anger!

I was actually addressing one particular person who said that they would be going to their local shop now instead.

BN buys their stuff from Starbucks but is not actually run in anyway by Starbucks. The employees are all BN employees. Technically, it's a BN cafe featuring Starbucks product. They used to get periodic "inspections" from Starbucks to see if they were meeting the "quality" standards but that was the extent of it.

If you don't write a power ballad about this, it will be a crime.

The upcharge for soy milk is not just a vegan issue though. I've been reading complaints about the reward card changes on Sbux facebook wall and other places, and most of them are from people who are lactose intolerant.

It's totally a first world problem that means virtually nothing compared to bigger problems in the world. But I would guess that the reason these issues stick around for as long as they do (and these threads get as big as they do) is the fact that people keep pointing out that it's a first world problem and is totally silly. So then the annoyed people feel like they have to defend their right to be annoyed. And then the it's-no-big-deal people come back and tell people to calm down. And then the annoyed people have to be like, we're not rioting, we're just ticked. And then the first people come back and say get ticked about something worthwhile and that actually matters! And then the second people say YOU FIRST. And then the first people are like YOUR FACE. And then the second people are like YOUR MOM'S FACE.

And then the only people with sense start talking about sugary treats and animals, mocking us all.

I don't know, I think it's tough to say people care more about x than y. I know I'd be a hell of a lot more pissed if my local library were threatened, but if there's a library closing somewhere in Utah, I just don't even know about it. This is- while yes, trivial and a luxury item and a FWP- something that directly affects people's daily habits so of course they'll sit up and take notice. And when the "action" required is something so easy as posting a complaint on a company's fb page, and that action has a chance of reversing the decision, of course they'll do it. It's not like, hey guys, post on Obama's facebook page and maybe we'll get universal health care! I think with bigger issues people don't generally know what to do or think they can have any kind of effect.

Maybe I have too much faith in people, I just know for me that my thinking about Starbucks doesn't preclude thinking about actual real issues.

And yes, they are a for-profit corporation, but a good relationship with their customers is kind of a necessary component there!

People just get disproportionately upset about this trivial stuff. It reminds me of Al Franken's plan to run for president on the platform of abolishing ATM fees. In movies featuring audience-approved murder, we cheer when the guy who unapologetically cuts in line gets a wrench to the face, but when the pedophile is being killed we think "Now, hang on..."

Ha, ok I was typing (about my right to be annoyed, DAMNIT) while you were, Fee, but yeah, exactly that.

(PS I'm open to this thread now being about sugary treats and animals).

I think it is just easier sometimes to be complain about something that is not a big deal than the things that are a big deal, which is why you'll often see more responses to Starbucks rewards than to the horrors posted in the parlor. Sometimes I don't want to complain about the big problems because I don't even want to think about them.

For example, I will spend more time complaining aloud about my train arriving late than a loved one dying when those things happen on the same day. The amount I discuss something that upsets me is not in direct proportion to how much it upsets me. If someone was to say I was "disproportionately upset" about the train being late they would be wrong - I am much more upset about other things but prefer to talk about this because it is easier.

Trivial complaining is a form of escapism for me...

Belated ETA: I would not "complain" about a loved one dying, you know what I mean.

I'd imagine this issue won't stick around very long at all. Americans have a pretty short attention span and I bet most people are already back to drinking their daily $6 venti lappe cafi drinkis. All that brand loyalty and card perks and such are used for a reason and with s.bux as entrenched as they are I doubt this is much more than a blip.
Twitter probably has one J. Beiber back to top trending topic. #nakedwizardsahoy

I'm outraged that I don't have a kitty sleeping on a cupcake.

And I was reading something on the Starbucks Facebook page where someone estimated they spent $15-$20/day at Starbucks... damn. I'm just talking about a $3.65 drink every once in a while.

The barista who sees me a few times a week told me about the changes...I told her they sucked. She then said that I can get a free pastry or box lunch...I am like 'um we are vegan'...She looked I am missing out.

I once bought that vegan noodle box....not worth the $6, I could have got a fresh spring roll order at my fave Thai place for that and have not been starving afterwards.

I would wager the the average Starbucks dishes out a tonne more cow milk than soy milk. it's a small percentage of their customer base. Panders is also right in that most people who visit the joint regularly will continue to do so.

I was a brand hors d'oeuvre, until a brand for sophisticated gentlemen recognized my heart of gold and made me into a brand lady.

Well maybe this kerfluffle will inspire other retailers to add soy milk. Hi, Dunkin Donuts, looking at you! I drive past two of those every day, plus my dad goes for donuts often on Saturday morning. He would get me a latte there instead of an extra trip to SB.

Even if they also charge, the mainstreaming of alternatives like soy is nothing but a good thing. I think that a lot of retailers really are blind to the fact that there is a growing demand. Also, this growing demand has kept soy milk costs down. Almost everything else I buy has gone up in price, but soy milk has mostly held steady, with the exception of some of the more costly refrigerated options.

Is it possible to put enough add-ons into a drink that it could cost $15? Syrup and soy and ketchup and raw protein wheatgrass and vitamin M and some Frappiwhipp™.

That's an interesting question. To the internet!