Hacking Starbucks continued
By Owen Morris in Coffee
Mon., Jan. 26 2009 @ 9:30AM
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As fast as Starbucks can introduce drinks, people (me included) are trying to hack them or subvert them or do whatever we can to try and find cheaper alternatives for the same taste.
Part of that is human nature but there's something else at work right now too.
While it was always frivolous to pay four or five dollars for a drink that costs pennies (the cup costs more than the coffee), it seems downright wrong in this economy. At the same time, a lot of us have become addicted to Starbucks' atmosphere, service and drinks. We don't want to give it up, but we don't want to pay the equivalent of lunch for a cup of liquid.
There's another element at work, too. Starbucks is struggling mightily right now and so it's constantly introducing new items. Whereas the government throws money at the banks, Starbucks throws new tea blends at baristas. Both strategies seem to be having the same effect. The problem is that these drinks are really just new takes on old ones. After I wrote about London Fog Latte, a reader pointed out that the same item has always been on the menu as a vanilla tazo Earl Grey misto.
Instead of introducing new drinks for people to hack, Starbucks' should drop its prices so that the most expensive drink is $3 and everything else priced accordingly. That would hurt the bottom line, but if this mess we're in continues for another year or more, things at Sixbucks are going to get worse before they get better. Three-dollar drinks might encourage people to stop spending their time hacking and spend more money buying.
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