Just kill me now:
In the spirit of the Holiday season and the Starbucks tradition of bringing people together, we have a unique opportunity to unite and take action on an incredibly important topic. As many of you know, our elected officials in Washington D.C. have been unable to come together and compromise to solve the tremendously important, time-sensitive issue to fix the national debt. You can learn more about this impending crisis at www.fixthedebt.org.
Rather than be bystanders, we have an opportunity—and I believe a responsibility—to use our company’s scale for good by sending a respectful and optimistic message to our elected officials to come together and reach common ground on this important issue. This week through December 28, partners in our Washington D.C. area stores are writing “Come Together” on customers’ cups.
Sometimes it is just embarrassing to be American.
Just Some Fuckhead
I guess “Hey Republicans, stop being asshats” was too big to fit on the cup?
feebog
Where were these guys 10 years ago, when it was already apparent that the Bush tax cuts were going to explode the debt?
The Dangerman
Apparently, their Editor saw that Scarlett Johannson pic in the last thread.
Amanda in the South Bay
Lemme guess-Starbucks taxes go up if we go over the cliff?
Brachiator
If they can write accurate blog headings, it might be worth it.
Did you mean, Do You Think They Will Take Over?
danimal
Dear Starbucks, I prefer the Aerosmith version, if that matters.
Marc
No, no, no, a global megacorporation asking its minimum-wage “partners” to scrawl boomer platitudes on overpriced coffee cups on a week when Congress is out of session is guaranteed to bring sensible centrism to Washington, DC.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
For my sins, I am sitting with my ailing dad and listening to wingnut radio. I guess I should be grateful the Fox News portion of the program has not yet started.
Oh well. It’s better than having him stuck in the hospital.
handy
Heh, a veritable coffee party movement is brewing. Everyone come together for the good of the country! Embrace your inner centrist!
SRW1
Lovely to see how corporate tax dodgers are ‘worried’ about the deficit.
Joshua Norton
“Come Together”
Dr. Ruth has been pushing that for years.
eclecticbrotha
Right naow.
Over me.
MikeBoyScout
I don’t have a source, but I’ve heard rumors that Dunkin’ Donuts is going to counter by having its staff write
“Relax don’t do it. When you want to come” on its cups.
dead existentialist
“Come Together” seems appropriate enough for the circle-jerk that is the GOP caucus.
eclecticbrotha
Also, may I suggest “Two Words, One Cup” as an alternate title for this thread?
Rosalita
@Amanda in the South Bay:
The Milk Cliff will certainly effect their business
handy
I guess the Ghosts of David Broder past, present and future visited the CEO of Starbucks this Christmas.
Napoleon
Starbucks goes on my “do not patronize” list.
Paul
@feebog:
Or March 2003, when Bush decided to start the unfunded Iraq war debacle. So far, $1 trillion completely wasted. I still don’t understand why people that were opposed to this dumb war have to pay for it.
jayjaybear
@handy: Played by Broder’s carefully centered corpse, Bobo, and Chunky Bobo.
Tomolitics
The comments on this drivel are quite amusing at least. Actually gives me hope that most Americans see through the debt porn puppet theater perpetuated by the plutocrats behind Fix The Debt.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
Since Starbucks in HQ’d in Seattle, I blame our state’s new pot laws.
It’s called “responsible usage,” gang, and firing up a doobie behind the HQ building before a corporate-message brainstorming session is the opposite of what that phrase means.
Soonergrunt
Because this is just what we need right now. Overpriced burnt coffee cups with slogans written on them in Sharpie by minimum-wage slaves, to be drunk by members of the public who are not Congresspeople or their staffs who aren’t in town to drink them. That will fix everything!
ETA:Marc beat me to exactly the same thought.
Yutsano
Test
different-church-lady
Somehow the snark “First World Problems” doesn’t even begin to cover this. I think we’re going to have to move into negative numbers.
In other words, “Don’t just be bystanders! Be bystanders with Sharpies!
Aet
They had to workshop it for a bit, because ‘Surrender’ was proving too depressing in focus groups.
ABL
@eclecticbrotha: Hilarious.
The Dangerman
Starbucks would be far more effective if they promised to “Come Together” in an Anthony Anderson kinda way.
/Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
different-church-lady
@eclecticbrotha: Hell, I’d be happy if the existing title were converted to English.
Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)
@Brachiator:
Nixon went to China, ergo; he’s a liberal.
Matt
Wow, as if terribly over-roasted coffee served by wage slaves wasn’t sufficient reason to avoid SBux, now we have this outburst of Pete Peterson knob-slobbering to add to the list.
huckster
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Slows the line down man.
japa21
According to CNN, Geithner is saying the debt ceiling will be hit Monday. Since that is still 2012, does Obama still have the power to raise it unilaterally?
Felonius Monk
U.S.A. = United STARBUCKS of America
BGinCHI
There, fucking fixed.
Warren Terra
It’s good to see Starbucks so concerned about government deficits. I don’t know what they do here in the US, but they sparked a nationwide boycott in Britain when it was reported that Starbucks UK had used accounting tricks to avoid paying any taxes on their massively profitable ventures.
Felonius Monk
Shorter Starbucks’ CEO: We really don’t have a clue, so let’s all stand around and shit in our hats. That will make them take notice.
Comrade Carter
Starbucks… You going to be selling all those coffee cups that were made in China? I like Starbucks, but the coffee cups are pushing me to Alterra or Caribou.
burnspbesq
The Chinese have their own issues. We’re on our own.
David in NY
@japa21:
Whoa!
mothra
Go over and comment.
different-church-lady
@BGinCHI:
Not fuckin’ fixed enough.
NotMax
Have never so much as set foot inside a Starbuck’s.
Once (and only once) a friend brought over an iced coffee from there for me.
While it wasn’t the worst cup of coffee I’ve ever tasted*, it holds the runner-up position, poised to take over the title should the holder be unable to fulfill its duties.
For truly good coffee, flavorings and frills are superfluous gilding of the lily.
*That one was in a poor excuse for a Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen, Scotland just after Christmas in 1974.
Anoniminous
Also Sprach Starbucks Spokesmoran:
“Rather than be idle spectators we will initiate a vacuously idle action which we hope will ensure to drive Public Debate and Discourse to the intellectual level of a retarded iguana.”
BGinCHI
@different-church-lady: I accept your friendly amendment.
Starbucks is the Windows of coffee.
/hides under desk
Librarian
I guess “Democrats, cave in and fuck over the poor and the middle class” was too long to fit on the cups.
FormerSwingVoter
BLARGABARBLE
Dear Media,
Please point out that the Fiscal Cliff is the solution to our debt. This is why you don’t fix the debt during a recession.
Raven
@NotMax: We can’t all just grab some Kona! ):
Quicksand
@Tomolitics:
Not just amusing — I’d call them quite good, actually. Especially considering they’re attached to a Starbucks CEO PR blog post.
I honestly would have expected YouTube-like or local-newspaper-level comments.
As I write this, there are 11 comments, 10-to-1 in favor of basically calling Schultz a massive twit.
Villago Delenda Est
I’m sure this would have worked in 1860, too.
Fuck the teatard scum. One does not negotiate with terrorists, or fascists. We learned how to properly deal with the latter in WWII.
Ruckus
@BGinCHI:
Starbucks is the Windows of coffee.
Can’t decide who is getting dissed more. Although both deserve to be getting dissed to the max, and for the same reason, they both sell crapola.
gene108
@eclecticbrotha:
NO!
I cannot unsee what I have seen, with regards to that video. If only I could burn out my eye balls, reach into my brain and wipe the slate clean, could I find some relief.
Do not ever mention it again.
gene108
@Warren Terra:
I heard the accounting trick was to incorporate in Ireland and/or Luxemburg.
This is what happens, when Empires die…
Joel
As long as the Sonics remain in Oklahoma City, Howard Schultz can go fuck himself.
Raven
Here is Mr Lang’s latest comment in regard to the GUN HYSTERIA:
“Short of changing the constitution—doubtful; or a revolution by those who oppose gun ownership—also doubtful as they would have a hard time maneuvering in the Birkenstock’s—any solution must be based on common sense and must be constitutional; at least one would hope.”
See you sissy motherfucking hippies, you are just hysterical punks. If you want to read it all he continues to be linked on this blog.
gene108
@burnspbesq:
But, but, but China’s like the most super-amped up country evah and they’re going to take us over and own us, just like the Japanese have done, since the 1980’s or the Arab oil sheiks did after the 1970’s…
@Quicksand:
He is a massive twit for buying the Seattle Supersonics, then realizing running a basketball team wasn’t just about maximizing profits, deciding to sell it to some Oklahoma based investors, who were going to move the franchise out of Seattle.
maya
Starbucks could have put on moar wordies if only they had switched to higher capacity
clipscups.Brachiator
@Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin):
You speak non sequitur really well.
Soonergrunt
@BGinCHI: “Starbucks is the Windows of coffee.”
Actually, it’s the Apple of coffee. Very fashionable, looks very nice, overly expensive for what it does. Leaves you with a feeling of having been ripped off once you’ve bought it and realized you could have had better product exactly the way you wanted it for less money.
Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)
@Brachiator:
Heh. But you got the point nevertheless. My hat tips to you.
Walker
Uh, if you are telling us to go to a website called Fix the Debt to learn about the fiscal cliff, then you are either incredibly right wing or incredibly ignorant.
Woodrowfan
@Aet: and it was seen as a cheap trick..
JustAnotherBob
@Soonergrunt:
Perhaps we need a category of “lemming brands”.
Elizabelle
That will keep me out of Starbucks for a few weeks.
And no buying bags of coffee either.
The “fix the debt” campaign is appalling in its manipulativeness.
Which is readily apparent, and why it might not be working.
Raven
@Soonergrunt: Bah, I’ve never felt “ripped off” about any of my Apple products.
Maude
@BGinCHI:
Windows 8. No body knows what to do with it either.
Poppy Bush is very sick. Am I the only one that dreads a former president dying because of the endless hoopla?
Is there a support group for this?
Elizabelle
Did you read the comments on “Howard S’s” plea?
He’s getting slammed.
Don’t comment here (first); walk your snark over to JC’s link and have at it.
JustAnotherBob
@Maude: Hoopla will be minimal.
Poppy is loved by few. Tolerated is pretty much his upper limit. He didn’t do much in office (except raising taxes) and he’s done nothing for the country after leaving office.
Raven
@Maude: Still pisses me off that Saint Ronnie kickin off ruined the dedication of the WWII Monument.
Gravenstone
@danimal: Sacrilegious bastard.
Elizabelle
Here’s what’s already up on the “Let’s Come Together, America” page:
and
and
cathyx
Just another rich guy who thinks we’re all too stupid to know why the deficit really doesn’t matter and who is protecting his money.
Maude
@Raven:
This. And the Beirut Marines are still dead.
Gunner
Those cups will look great next to my “Whip Inflation Now” coffee mugs.
Raven
@Maude: And then he cut and ran.
gogol's wife
@Raven:
I wish you would get some traction with that.
Waldo
New Englanders may remember when Bess Eaton donut shops started printing Bible verses on their cups — right before the company went bankrupt.
Sadly, that’s probably too much to hope for in this case.
Anna in PDX
It was a pain in the ass to register as a Starbucks patron in order to comment, but it was worth it. I note that all the comments were somewhat similar to mine. As for me, I’m one gift card away from boycotting them for the foreseeable future.
Maude
@Raven:
And sold weapons to terrorists. Ollie North. Now, part of the scam with Hannity.
It’s the whole lying in state and all. It is endless.
cmorenc
@handy:
Broder’s ghosts said to the CEO: “These are the inanes I forged in life…”
Elizabelle
From Howard S’s message (and doesn’t Howard S sound like his Alcoholics Anon name?):
Imagine Starbucks coffee shops, emptier than usual through December 28, while smarter Americans avoid this simple — nay, simplistic — message.
FormerSwingVoter
@Walker: I’m going to take him at face value and assume he really believes that the fiscal cliff will be bad for the debt.
If the last few years have taught me anything, it’s that many of the ultra-rich are very, very, very stupid.
Djur
@Elizabelle: Huh, that first guy is ‘vanderleun’. Wonder if that’s this Vanderleun, also known as Mr. “I am aware of all Internet traditions”.
Djur
I love that this creep has to explain his company’s Orwellian term “partners” with the parenthetical “(employees)”. Because they’re employees, not partners, and calling them ‘partners’ is a cruel and stupid lie.
cathyx
Just another rich guy living in his rich guy bubble. I hope all the comments wake him up. He’s probably shocked at what he’s reading and what those 99%ers think.
Villago Delenda Est
@Maude:
The horrors of the Reagasm will probably never be repeated.
The asshole sired the deserting coward. That alone is a crime against humanity that can never be forgiven.
Poopyman
@Soonergrunt: (Golf claps)
Elizabelle
@Djur:
Most interesting about vanderleun. The original or a tribute?
And yeah, partners = employees struck me as insane too.
I guess Starbucks doesn’t want to have just “associates”, like other retail corporations.
Title inflation, but you’re still a peon.
Barista is fine.
Raven
You have GOT to see Joan Walsh rip Tweety and Dick Armey a new asshole when they replay Hardball. She was awesome.
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
I blame Twitter for the illusion that repeating the same two words over and over to random strangers will change anything.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@Rosalita: As a former Starbucks employee, thank all the Gods no longer, I can tell you that this is precisely the issue. Of all their ingredients, the #1 expense is milk. A doubling in the cost of milk – to be accurate, milk being forced to be sold at its true market price – will render every single store instantly unprofitable.
And kill their stock price in the bargain.
Maude
@Villago Delenda Est:
I was offended when Poppy stood up for Son after Son got so many US soldiers killed in Iraq and all the rest.
Maude
@Elizabelle:
At one time Starbucks had a drink machine that took two hours to clean after the stores closed.
Elizabelle
Forbes magazine on Starbucks’ misfire:
Mentioning Sandy Hook shooting victim Lauren Rousseau in a screed against the debt — when taxes fund our schools and law enforcement and mental health services, and are the price of a civil society — is pornographic.
MikeJ
@Elizabelle:
It’s even worse. They have a title called “shift supervisor” who Starbucks claimed had no actual power and was most certainly *not* management. They weren’t management so they could be allowed to participate in splitting the tips. If they were no longer tipped Starbucks would have to pay them more in addition to calling them supervisors.
There was a lawsuit over it, but I don’t remember the outcome.
Elizabelle
I don’t feel right slapping at GHW Bush.
He is a better man than just about all of the GOP presidential candidates who followed him.
He did serve his country in WWII, at personal peril.
He was a moderate Republican until that became uncool, although Clarence Thomas is the legacy he left.
(That and putting W in proximity to the White House.)
Am sure he lived long enough to regret what his party has become, and probably understands, on some level, what a disaster his son’s presidency was.
wasabi gasp
Helter Skelter
Raven
@Elizabelle: Dig a little deeper into who he is before you decide.
Forum Transmitted Disease
I feel great about it. Willie Horton, anyone? Lee Atwater?
Oh sure, he regretted creating Frankenstein, most of Frankenstein’s creators do, after they see all the damage. But he did it all the same, with a whistle on his lips and a song in his heart.
danimal
The irony of this little episode is, that as far as mega-rich billionaires, Howard Schultz is somewhat reasonable in his politics.
If we do go over the cliff (as I’m hoping), it will be fun to watch the class solidarity crumble as all the rich bastards who benefit from government spending protect their own very special businesses from federal spending cuts. “Austerity for thee, but not for me” will soon be the name of the game.
AHH onna Droid
@Comrade Carter: The sbux was selling US made cups this summer, in a style so old one could only love it ironically. Unfortunately one of the zombies in marketing had ugly metal sbux badges glued to the cups unironically, rendering then unpurchasable by me. Dunno ’bout y’all.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Elizabelle:
The GHB admin had all manner of foreign policy fuckups (AfPak, anyone?) but I give them credit for handling the decline and collapse of the Soviet empire well. Things can get very complex and dangerous very quickly when a major empire collapses; great power wars happen that way. I don’t think GHB and his team get as much credit as they should for getting us thru that period without it turning into a global clusterfuck of epic proportions, because of course the epic global clusterfuck didn’t happen. Instead we got a lot of little clusterfucks. We could have done much worse. The thought of how any contemporary Republican administration would handle the same sort of events today is simply too frightening to even contemplate.
El Caganer
@Elizabelle: Frankly, the only “small gesture” that comes to mind in connection with Howard S.’ drivel is curling my fingers into a fist and rapidly moving my hand forward and backward in front of my crotch.
Maude
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
Except he recognized Yugoslavia and set off a mess. He was asked by many countries not to do that.
WaterGirl
@BGinCHI: Wow. i thought I loved you before, but now I know for sure.
Between your windows comment and the possiblilty that Obama might be able to raise the debt ceiling & flip the republicans the bird, I am a happy girl.
BGinCHI
@Soonergrunt: I can’t hear you from under the desk.
Oltrol
@Raven:
They must have edited….that’s not my idea of “ripping a new asshole” to someone, even on the TeeVee.
Oltrol
@Soonergrunt:
You Starbucks folks ever try just getting the “coffee of the day”, it’s $2 for a Grande, leave it down a bit for your fav addition.
Same as most C-Stores, but I like 7-11 coffee too.
ruemara
@Soonergrunt: I like you, but fuck off about Apple. Having worked on both systems for design and video, I’d work on an Apple every time. And considering once you upgrade a Wintel cheapola to the standards of a Mac, you’re spending about the same, I’d rather get it right, out of the box.
angler
And this: http://libcom.org/library/anarchy-precarity-and-revenge-iww-interview-starbucks-union-organizer-daniel-gross
redshirt
Are there no Starbucks supporters? I like the place, though I don’t go into one very often.
Stacy
I much prefer Tim Horton’s campaign where you roll up the rim of your cup to see if you won a free donut, coffee etc. Just don’t do it when it’s full of hot coffee. Ouch!
mclaren
Sometimes?
Svensker
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: I know a couple of peeps who worked (at fairly low level) in the GHWBush admin and they said he was a great guy as a boss. Very much concerned that everyone was treated fairly, was concerned about “his people” and always remembered names, who had kids, spouse info, etc. A genuinely nice man to work for, according to these folks, who also happen to be Dems.
redshirt
Does anyone know of any crimes committed by Dunkies?
different-church-lady
@Soonergrunt:
Unless, of course, what you wanted is a computer that worked reliably for three years longer than the typical PC.
PJ
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: The Bush Administration was caught with its pants down when the revolutions started happening in 1989 (so much for the CIA), and I heard (and admittedly this is second hand from embassy employees) the official State Dept. policy was to discourage any kind of revolt lest it create the dreaded instability. Whereas Truman, with the Marshall Plan, ponied up money and know how to reconstruct Western Europe, both Bush and Clinton squandered a twice in a century opportunity, leaving behind kleptocracies and, in the case of many of the post-Soviet states, virtual dictatorships.
From Tony Judt’s great Ill Fares the Land: