AC vs. Starbucks

Actually, in terms of their respective products Fordism offered a lot more choices than Starbucks. In the mid-1950s, the options available to the purchaser of a Chevy Bel-Air 4-door sedan were infinite, from a rainbow of paint and fabric combinations including a paisley-pattern roof. The shapes and styles of the cars were prodigious in baroque variety. And the cars were often cheap. As for Starbucks, the company’s basic signature is over-roasted beans and its core achievement is to have people fork over $3.50 for a cup of coffee. Starbucks is a predatory franchiser and its arrival in any town usually heralds the extinction of existing small cafes and diners. Its signage, across America and around the world through 13000 outlets, advertises not Penn’s “customized, personalized products” but unending repetition.--AC

From the late, great Alexander Cockburn.

Ha!  I'm meeting CD for coffee Tues. morning at a Starbucks, which I never frequent unless I'm meeting with Oregon's best retired playwright.

But CD is addicted to the iced coffee!

I gagged at the price of a small thimble of coffee the last time we met there.  We really ought to change our venue.


TS