Professor gives Starbucks a roasting - Food - NewsObserver.com

Professor gives Starbucks a roasting – Food – NewsObserver.com.

A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Professor Bryant Symon, is garnering some attention with a book he has written outlining research around the Starbucks phenomena. In his book, Everything But the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks, Symon, who is now a professor at Temple University, takes a close look at the success and culture surrounding the Seattle-based purveyor of coffee and all things coffee-house related. His bottom line seems to be that people are more interested in a facade of affluence that might be suggested because they buy their morning cup at Starbucks.

Professor Bryant says, “Starbucks is selling status, which is a different model than say Wal-Mart, which is about selling more…” He points out that the success of the coffee chain seems to be built on people feeling they are more socially aware, more environmentally responsible, and more culturally connected because they frequent these establishments for their morning coffee. And the way he describes all of this, it is obvious that he sees this as a bad thing. I can’t help but ask, “So what?”

To be totally honest, I have not yet read Symon’s book, but it is on my reading list. I am operating completely from the article cited above. But I really have to wonder what the good professor’s point is. If Starbucks makes use of current social and environmental issues to draw people into their establishments, and it works, isn’t that just good marketing? And if, in the process, people become even just a little more aware of important issues, how is that a bad thing?

During an interview for the News and Observer article, Symon pointed out a pair of luxurious overstuffed chairs in the coffee shop. The reporter described the scene this way:

During a recent stop at Starbucks on Peace Street in Raleigh’s Glenwood South neighborhood, Simon pointed out two big, royal purple chairs positioned in one corner. The comfy chairs offered a chance for respite; the royal purple color and velvety fabric oozed opulence and affluence.

At the store at the corner of Maynard and Chapel Hill Road in Cary, Simon explained how the napkins, featuring a message about recycling, give customers a stake in the do-good Starbucks image.

Again, I say, “So what?” I really don’t get why providing customers an experience that hints at prosperity or affluence is necessarily a bad thing. Don’t fine dining restaurants do the same thing with fare that is outside the norm of people’s every day dining experience? At the say time, encouraging people to recycle is hardly a crime, or anywhere near being radical or revolutionary. I could almost see Professor Symon’s concern if the napkins carried quotes from Chairman Mao.

I guess I’m going to have to read Professor Symon’s book to get the full message he is trying to deliver. But to me, it almost looks like another attack on a successful company that has violated some unwritten law about what is allowed in the pursuit of success. Anyone who has read this blog for a while knows that I have my own issues with corporate America, and the greed surrounding capitalism. But in this case, Starbucks is constantly listed as one of the best places to work in this country. And that designation comes from their employees. So they get a little leeway from me.

Speaking of which, it’s time to bring this post to a close. I have to get to my local Starbucks, where the baristas know me by name, for my daily contribution to corporate shills.

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