Is This Worthy of an Editorial

[YankeeFan]

Look, I'm the resident "coffee guy" but is there any reason for the Chicago Tribune to write an editorial congratulating Starbucks on their 40th anniversary?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-starbucks-20110328,0,2983780.story

It looks more like an advertorial.

Someone's PR agency did a good job.

 

[Stitch]

Look, I'm the resident "coffee guy" but is there any reason for the Chicago Tribune to write an editorial congratulating Starbucks on their 40th anniversary?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-starbucks-20110328,0,2983780.story

It looks more like an advertorial.

Someone's PR agency did a good job.

Especially since this appeared in Chicago and not in Seattle.

 

[YankeeFan]

Look, I'm the resident "coffee guy" but is there any reason for the Chicago Tribune to write an editorial congratulating Starbucks on their 40th anniversary?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-starbucks-20110328,0,2983780.story

It looks more like an advertorial.

Someone's PR agency did a good job.

Especially since this appeared in Chicago and not in Seattle.

That's what I don't get. If it was about a local business done good, fine. But what's he connection between Starbucks & Chicago?

Sometimes -- actually most of the time -- the Trib just seems so minor league. Something like this would never appear as an editorial in the New York Times or the Washington Post.

The Trib no longer appears to even be aspiring to greatness. It's a shell of what it used to be.

Most of the articles in it that I do find interesting -- say an article about business trends -- come from the LA Times and all of the local references are to LA. How hard would it be to take an article like that, use the national information and then plug in local references? Give the original author the byline and assign an intern to get some quotes from local businesses.

 

[jlee]

No.

 

[doctorx]

Yes, followed by an editorial saluting the Chamber of Commerce.

 

[Ace]

Anyone who can get the public to pay $4 for sterile atmosphere and a cup of coffee that's no better than average is doing something right and deserves to be saluted.

 

[RickStain]

Anyone who can get the public to pay $4 for sterile atmosphere and a cup of coffee that's no better than average is doing something right and deserves to be saluted.

Society broke down once some business people figured out that you don't have to provide better product to make people pay more. You just charge them more and they believe they are getting better product. It's a breakdown in the way the human mind works.

 

[MonsterLobster]

Whu???

 

[sully84]

This seems pretty out-of-place. They mention the "inflated prices" in the story, but then they thank Starbucks. It would be ok, in my opinion, only if they were bashing American culture and the company, considering the prices...this absolutely reads like a staff-produced advertorial.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Personally, I go pretty regularly, and like the coffee enough, but would never pay those prices just for the coffee. It's the only place I'm productive - too many distractions at home or in my office. I pay rent when I have a big block of time & a lot to get done & I get a cup of coffee too.

 

[murphyc]

Starting tomorrow: full-page Starbucks ads in the Chicago Tribune.

 

[LongTimeListener]

That was actually a pretty informative piece on what has become one of the defining symbols of our culture.

Until the halfway point. Then it became a love note.

 

[Bob Cook]

Anyone who can get the public to pay $4 for sterile atmosphere and a cup of coffee that's no better than average is doing something right and deserves to be saluted.

Society broke down once some business people figured out that you don't have to provide better product to make people pay more. You just charge them more and they believe they are getting better product. It's a breakdown in the way the human mind works.

Actually, it's that Starbucks coffee has more caffeine than its competitors.

http://www.slate.com/id/2107807/

As a confirmed addict, I can feel the difference between having Starbucks and having a similar cup from elsewhere, not only when I feel the caffeine hit wear off, but also when I feel the lack-of-caffeine headache coming on.

 

[Boomer7]

The Boston Globe can trump the Trib, easily.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2011/03/22/daniel_nava_cinderella_after_the_ball/

 

[Versatile]

The Boston Globe can trump the Trib, easily.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2011/03/22/daniel_nava_cinderella_after_the_ball/

While neither of these is what I consider a valuable editorial, at least the Globe's is very, very brief (it was likely the third editorial of the day) and local.

A good editorial on Starbucks might have been sarcastic, examining why Starbucks has made it this far through the lens of a congratulations. This editorial, unless it completely flew over my head, was not that.

 

[YankeeFan]

Starting tomorrow: full-page Starbucks ads in the Chicago Tribune.

They don't buy a ton of traditional media, so this makes it all the more curious. I'd love to see someone from the Chicago Reader (free weekly) or someone else poke around and try to figure out what motivated this. I'd also be curious if any other papers ran similar op-eds, which would be a clear sign that a PR agency was involved.

 

[YankeeFan]

Anyone who can get the public to pay $4 for sterile atmosphere and a cup of coffee that's no better than average is doing something right and deserves to be saluted.

Society broke down once some business people figured out that you don't have to provide better product to make people pay more. You just charge them more and they believe they are getting better product. It's a breakdown in the way the human mind works.

Nothing Starbucks invented, obviously. They just recognized the trend & hopped on.

I'm sure their are countless earlier examples, but the most striking one to me is the marketing of vodka, beginning with Absolute. By law, vodka has to be colorless, tasteless, and odorless. Yet, Absolute was able to market a "lifestyle" and get people to order it by name. It's since been eclipsed by Kettle One, Gray Goose, and others, but it was still remarkable.

 

[Ace]

Anyone who can get the public to pay $4 for sterile atmosphere and a cup of coffee that's no better than average is doing something right and deserves to be saluted.

Society broke down once some business people figured out that you don't have to provide better product to make people pay more. You just charge them more and they believe they are getting better product. It's a breakdown in the way the human mind works.

Nothing Starbucks invented, obviously. They just recognized the trend & hopped on.

I'm sure their are countless earlier examples, but the most striking one to me is the marketing of vodka, beginning with Absolute. By law, vodka has to be colorless, tasteless, and odorless. Yet, Absolute was able to market a "lifestyle" and get people to order it by name. It's since been eclipsed by Kettle One, Gray Goose, and others, but it was still remarkable.

By law? Vodka sure has a lousy taste for being tasteless (in my opinion).

 

[DanOregon]

I don't know if I have less or more of a problem with news orgs editorializing about a Starbucks anniversary or providing front-page coverage of a store opening. Whatever happened to Krispy Kreme anyway?

 

[YankeeFan]

By law? Vodka sure has a lousy taste for being tasteless (in my opinion).

Yep, by law:

In the US, vodka is classified as "neutral spirits, so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color" by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

http://www.probrewer.com/resources/distilling/vodka.php

(There are probably more authoritative sources, but it's true.)

Alcohol is one of the most regulated industries we have.

A couple of micro-distilleries have opened here recently. I toured one a couple of weeks ago. They're not making vodka (partially because you can't compete on flavor), but the stories they told of regulation compliance were crazy.