The Way I See It.

I’ve only started drinking Starbucks, as I was (and still am) against them overtaking the world of small, local coffee shops. They don’t hold a candle up to some of the local NYC shops, but I blame my change of heart on a 60 Minutes documentary, along with the fact that their drip coffee is good and consistent (I wish they’d put the creamer in, though, rather than force me to use the sometimes-nasty public creamer station).

I caught myself reading their packaging the other day, and while I like their campaign, I’m not crazy about that exclusivity of it. For those of you that don’t read Starbucks product packaging in their spare time, the whole idea is a play on starting conversations at coffee shops, and it involves displaying the opinions of famous and influential people.

It’s all done tastefully (I’m thankful to read Bob Edwards’s opinion rather than Paris Hilton), and it invites consumers to mention the way they see it on the Starbucks Web site (see http://www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit). My question is, why stop there? Why not display the common consumer’s opinion on the packaging? Why must it be some well-known or “successful” person? So long as it’s interesting to read, I don’t think I should matter who’s voice it is.

Too expensive to produce, you say? Hogwash! Look at Jones Soda. They’ve been publishing submitted pictures for years.

Well, Starbucks, keep up the good coffee, but think about giving the little guy an equal soapbox.