We’ve all heard the phrase “non-fat, no whip grande caramel macchiato” in our lifetime, haven’t we? Even if we don’t exactly know what it means we know where this person is: he or she is at Starbucks, of course, ordering a pretentious sounding, ridiculously expensive coffee, on the way to some oh-so-important meeting.
Since Starbucks’ ingenious creation in 1971, it has become a household name, not to mention the world’s largest multinational chain of coffee shops. It’s net worth today is an estimated $6.3 billion, and growing. Let’s just say Howard Schultz, the chairman, and Jim Donald, the president and CEO, have absolutely nothing to worry about. They really don’t need any more money, and it is refreshing to see these two give back to the community, with The Starbucks Foundation and the Ethos Water Fund, which have raised more than $12 million to charitable organizations.
But even with their noble, philanthropic work, Starbucks has decided to delve into yet another money-making endeavor: the entertainment industry.
We all know Starbucks sells CDs. They’ve been doing this for quite some time now. Many of us have bought a Starbucks Christmas album in our day, filled with the crooning voices of such legends as Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. How can one resist such a tempting mélange of melodies sung by the best?
But that was it. No movies or books were being promoted back in the day, just a Christmas compilation, a chocolate biscotti and tall mint frappuccino. The good old days.
But those days are long gone. Now we are bombarded with posters for “Akeelah and the Bee,” long, incredibly difficult words displayed on the walls, reminding us this is an educational, uplifting movie we should all see.
Now they even have books on display, like brand name author Mitch Albom’s, “For One More Day,” latest sentimental tale is not only available at your local Border’s, it’s at Starbucks, too.
The main question is why. Why do the people behind Starbucks feel the need to jump into the pop culture merchandise business when they were doing just fine without it? Schultz, told the New York Times, “We’re very excited, because despite how much we’ve grown, these are the early stages for development. At our core, we’re a coffee company, but the opportunity we have to extend the brand is beyond coffee; it’s entertainment.”
So far, Starbucks has, as usual, exceeded its expectations and gained millions, from a Ray Charles CD to a recent album of Meryl Streep reading “The Velveteen Rabbit.” It seems this empire will take anything it can get to keep its revenue flowing.
Of course this isn’t how Schultz sees it. He says that, “With the assets Starbucks has in terms of number of stores, and the trust we have with the brand, and the profile of our customers, we’re in a unique position to partner with creators of unique content to create an entertainment platform and an audience that’s unparalleled.”
In any case, it is obvious that this is just a PR ploy to get more musicians, authors and movie producers to succumb to the sweet taste of Starbucks cash.