← "Daily linklets 5th May" | Return to Main Page | "SCMP "time bomb"" →

May 05, 2005

You are on the invidual archive page of Starbucks standstill. Click Simon World weblog for the main page.
Starbucks standstill

Despite no official announcement, word was passed around that to celebrate Starbuck's 5th birthday in Hong Kong there will be free coffees between 5pm and 6pm today. No doubt the clever PR person worked in the 05/05/05 angle.

That can mean only one thing: hundreds of people queuing for a free coffee. Your intrepid reporter photographed the queue at one Starbucks outlet in the city (below the fold). Let's assume these people earn HK$250,000 a year on average - likely on the low side. For an average 10 hour work day that equates to HK$68/hour. A coffee is around HK$25 at Starbucks (although I wouldn't know, I hate coffee with a passion). That is assuming it's not fake coffee.

But free is free.

Update: Giles reports the queue at 6:10pm (i.e. after the offer expires) was still snaking out the door, with plenty flocking from far and wide to join in.

Sheep waiting for their turn in the shearing shed

starbucks1.jpg


"I hope this movie's good"

starbucks2.jpg

 posted by Simon on 05.05.05 at 07:19 PM in the




Trackbacks:

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blog.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/78833

Send a manual trackback ping to this post.


Comments:

Man, I hate coffee too! People don't believe I'm American. But the power of global marketing - sometimes I look at all these people sitting in Starbucks (and Pacific Coffee Co) and feel like I'm missing out on some kind of thing. Then I start to wish that I did like coffee, so I could join them and be fulfilled. And then I take another taste of coffee, spit it out and go on with my life.

 posted by: spike on 05.05.05 at 09:19 PM [permalink]

Spike, you are a strange man.

 posted by: Fabian on 05.05.05 at 10:02 PM [permalink]

Coffee really is the devil's drink.

 posted by: Simon on 05.06.05 at 10:17 AM [permalink]

What are you talking about? Coffee is the meaning of life! I swear it!

 posted by: Helen on 05.06.05 at 11:27 PM [permalink]

Just an aside - but my cousin ordered up a coffee at Starbucks last month and got a mouthful of cleaning fluids. Scorched her vocal chords. Sounds like the stuff of urban legends, no?

 posted by: ALEX on 05.08.05 at 08:55 AM [permalink]




Post a Comment:

Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember your info?







Disclaimer
All content, including comments, on this site operates under a Creative Commons Licence. The content except for quotes reflect my personal opinions and not those of my employer, family, co-workers, fellow Sydney Swans supporters or anyone else. The comments section is open but if you write it, you stand by it. I take no responsibility for comments. I may, at my sole discretion, moderate, alter or remove comments. I reserve the right to unashamedly change the rules as I go along. All emails are publishable unless otherwise marked. If you don't like it, use the little x in the top right of your browser.