Starbucks.

[Leviathan]

I have several invites [over Facebook] to attend an event involving Starbucks.

This is not an invite rant.
This is not a Facebook rant.

Starbucks is apparently giving five cents of every insanely priced coffee to World AIDS day.

Just 5 cents.

An average Starbucks cup of crap is $5+.
They only give 5 cents, yet some many people are making a huge fucking deal about it. If you do the math, they aren't helping very much at all. Starbucks, a wealthy enough corporation could give $3+ but would they ever? No. And is someone would ACTUALLY want to donate money towards AIDS research they would just do it DIRECTLY.

Point of the rant: Starbucks you suck.


Things that can be added on: Suddenly it has became cool to care about causes. [Mostly because they throw in a shirt.]

[Shadowpawn]

You'll be surprised how little they actually make from their coffee. They have to pay back manufacturers for the coffee produced and the material of the cup you drink it out of. They also have to bankroll the people who serve you those drinks, and of course they have to pay for marketing (marketing is the sole reason why the coffee is so overpriced.) So five cents for every coffee they sell is actually a lot for corporation that does not have to donate anything.

[CelestialBlade]

You'll be surprised how little they actually make from their coffee. They have to pay back manufacturers for the coffee produced and the material of the cup you drink it out of. They also have to bankroll the people who serve you those drinks, and of course they have to pay for marketing (marketing is the sole reason why the coffee is so overpriced.) So five cents for every coffee they sell is actually a lot for corporation that does not have to donate anything.
So why can I get a hot chocolate that tastes exactly the same from any other coffee shop, but at $2 cheaper?

They're only doing this 5 cent thing to say that they're donating to something....

[Aisha379]

5 cents X a freaking lot of coffee = still a lot of money.

Especially way more than lots of coffee X 0 cents.


Charity is called such because it does not have to be given, it is freely given. So saying that its stupid they aren't giving more is pretty dumb.

Note I am not a fan of Starbucks at all (or even coffee, for that matter), but the fact is if someone wants to give money, however much or little, who are you to criticize the amount of their gift? No matter the intentions (marketing, genuinely wanting to help, more sales, etc) people are still going to benefit from that money - money I'd assume is a lot more than you have given away.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, my point is that complaining about free money not being enough (in almost any situation, but ESPECIALLY charity) isn't a smart idea.

[CrimsomWolf]

Aside from me considering that coffe is coughbarbariccough :

Most companies (or very rich people) donate money so people won't bother them about not giving it. With some sole exceptions, its all about improving the public image of the company.

Kinda disgusting, if you ask me.

[Kent]

1% isn't exactly uncommon for donations, when it comes from companies like that. I can pretty much guarantee you that most companies that say they're donating "a portion" of their profits to x charitable organization are really giving an incredibly small amount.

But this is a business move. If you improve your image by, essentially, extorting the bleeding hearts of the world, you'll make more profit, even at the cost of 1% of your profit-per-cup.

In related news: The only Starbucks I know of closed down a couple months ago. It's kinda weird, seeing property for rent right next to the GameStop.

[geewj]

They couldn't donate fistfuls of profits even if they wanted to. Their customer first and foremost is the stock holder. They have a legally binding financial obligation to them. Overpriced or not, it doesn't matter here. They get a lot of customers, make a lot of sales, and donate a lot of nickels.

If I had a nickel for every time someone bought a Starbucks coffee, well, I guess I'd do the right thing and donate that money to an AIDS foundation. But I don't think any money grubber is happy to see that money go, so let's just be glad money is doing good things, huh?

[Sinue_v2]

For some reason this rant reminded me of a local Burger King promotional offer they ran on Veteran's Day. Coupons for 50 cents off a medium "freedom" fries, in honor of our fallen heroes.


Fuck.... You.... why not just go the full 9-yards of offensive and emblazon the coupon with an icon of two French Fries standing like the twin towers being rammed by ketchup packets.

[Shadowpawn]

So why can I get a hot chocolate that tastes exactly the same from any other coffee shop, but at $2 cheaper?



Starbucks pays more for advertising, hence the higher priced coffee.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

I had a marketing project on this, Starbucks.

Our team's conclusions was that Starbucks doesn't generally do a ton of advertising. I'm not saying you're wrong(would like to hear your info and cross reference), but our info and conclusions led to Corporate not taking much info back from store managers, suggestion boxes/forms not being very thorough or asking what new items besides coffee customers actually want in their stores(taking any feedback into account really, deciding for managers and customers), and one guy who's ? was he hates Starbucks... & how are they going to fix this for him.

Oh and per the OP, there's another pamphlet on "corporate social responsibility" we picked up. Makes it seem you're spending more for a good cause, probably not. Your choice to spend there or not though. "18 mil, 1.7 % pre-tax earnings given to charity" fiscal 2007.

And didn't even know Starbucks had events; they pride themselves on lowest serving times. Get in, pay, get out. Part of the reason that guy hated Starbucks too and a bigh part of our project why do they even sell thing besides coffee like books and CD's and crap all in your face, set up like impulse buys @ the counter when they aren't impulse buys when they're 3 times more than the already pretty pricey coffee.

[Kylie]

Out of the three coffee shops near me (I'm sure there are more that I don't know of--not a big fan of coffee drinks), Starbucks is cheaper than the other two, which are locally owned, so I don't think they're too bad.

[UnderscoreX]

5 cents more than you're doing!

[Leviathan]

1% isn't exactly uncommon for donations, when it comes from companies like that. I can pretty much guarantee you that most companies that say they're donating "a portion" of their profits to x charitable organization are really giving an incredibly small amount.

But this is a business move. If you improve your image by, essentially, extorting the bleeding hearts of the world, you'll make more profit, even at the cost of 1% of your profit-per-cup.

In related news: The only Starbucks I know of closed down a couple months ago. It's kinda weird, seeing property for rent right next to the GameStop.

That was my first thought. It was clearly a way to make themselves look better. Also it goes along with the current trend of people giving to charities because "giving back is the new black". Most people just throw their money into any old organization, but I like to look into how much they actually give.


5 cents more than you're doing!

Funny that you say that, I donate to the Salvation Army every year. Clothes, and canned food.

[furrypaws]

I see where the rant is coming from. Why 5 cents, and not 10, or 20? Certainly even 25 for one day wouldn't end up killing the busines/firing employees. Still, to fully understand it, we need to get the whole basis of information. How much does the material cost to make the coffee? Obviously, if, somehow, that cup of coffee actually costs $5.60 to produce and it sells for $5.65, then a nickel is quite a lot. I'm willing to bet they make at least a dollar or two per cup though, so, once again, a nickel's really...not that much. Like Levi said, it's probably just to up the image. I'm not going to go out and buy one just because now (which I think, correct me if I'm mistaken, is the whole point of the rant), but it'd be nice to know that if I happen to end up at Starbucks that day, that even a tiny portion of my daily expense would go to AIDS.

Then again, I could just go to a coffee store and buy a coffee for $4 cheaper and just give that to the AIDS charity instead. ;D