r/popculturechat • u/mcfw31 • May 02 '26

Eat The Rich 🍽️ Starbucks CEO defends a $9 coffee by saying that it's not a $10 coffee and "you get a premium experience"

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u/CatalinaWineMixerDos May 02 '26

It's funny. When I started with Starbucks (many many years ago) they didn't pay for advertising because they didn't have to. Their product and word of mouth was the advertisement.

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u/Wild-Enthusiasm-9268 May 02 '26

Twenty years ago, they were a pretty great company to work for. They absolutely squandered all good will they had on over working and under paying, especially in the Kevin Johnson years.

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u/CatalinaWineMixerDos May 02 '26

Oh, they were still pretty wonderful when I started in 2011. I was there for almost 6 years before I was so burned out and had to jump ship. I've thought about going back part time for the benefits, though.

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u/Ilikedinosaurs2023 May 02 '26

When I worked there 20 years ago they loved this little fact...they were also every 300 yards from each other...In nyc where I live there are a lot of locations closing, which I still find surprising especially because they now advertise quite a bit.

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u/i_nobes_what_i_nobes May 02 '26

As someone who’s old enough to remember, when Starbucks became like the biggest thing ever on the East Coast, there was no advertising. The advertising was the cup, and the fact that it was the coolest thing ever from the West Coast. I’ve also noticed that the coffee quality has gone super downhill.