A cup of Ethics

Last night as I battled my insomnia I found myself reading a full page advertisement in my parents latest issue of TIME magazine. The add was for the most wondrous place on earth; Starbucks!

Well at least it it is wondrous to me. I have loved Starbucks ever since I had my first cup of Joe there several years ago. I consider myself to be somewhat of a coffee nerd. I know a little bit more about various blends, and origins, of the bean than do most consumers. So of course Starbucks is my place.

Really though, it doesn't take a connoisseur to love Starbucks. Most people I know have various favorite $4.50 cups of sugar, milk, and syrup that they love to order there. But it has been obvious in the recent economic situation that many regulars are now just going to Starbucks for the occasional treat.

It totally makes sense too, for the average coffee drinker the home coffee pot, as well as cheaper alternatives like McDonalds are become the ideal choice.

Anyways, this full page, wonderfully colored ad really caught my attention. It was advertising Starbucks on 3 points

1. We care about the farmers
2. We care about the quality
3. We care about the Employee

Surprisingly, the article didn't say anything about cost effectiveness, in fact it openly admitted consumers pay more for what they get at Starbucks. Initially this ad seems like idiocy, How in the world does this add make Starbucks seem appealing when everyone's biggest concern is their wallet.

But wait, maybe there is more to this that what it initially seems.

After doing a little bit of goggling, I realized that Starbucks clientele may not be in the older generations, they are the ones who are quickly turning to places like McDonalds for their caffeine fix...And really it makes perfect sense. When I think of my dad, he could care less about coffee. He laughs out loud everytime I'm in the kitchen grinding up my own premium beans instead of drinking his faucet water flavored coffee-ish substance.

However, it turns out the millennial generation still cares a bit about the experience of Starbucks because they are the ones who still prefer it. This also makes sense. The sophisticated atmosphere and hip feel of Starbucks plays into our generations psyche.

This is where the ethics come in. One of the ad's selling points was that Starbucks gives it's employees full health insurance at 20hrs a week. I couldn't believe that an advertisement would sell on a point like that.

But I think if there is one truth about the Millennial generation is that in general...We care.

We want to know that the higher powers above us doing things ethnically correct. Were not really the generation to turn a blind eye.

So here is where the advertisement might actually work. It speaks to those in the younger generation that

"Yes, maybe we can't offer prices, and we know the economy sucks, but what we can assure you is that when you buy a cup of joe starbucks your buying what is morally right. You know you're helping out farmers, and assuring that we can maintain a well trained and happy staff."

That's how I read it, and I think that is how others my age might read it too. It will be interesting to see in the future if this sort of advertising pays off. Starbucks has a tough road ahead but maybe they will find that ethics actually does sell the bean.

My Review of the Office (Season 5)

So the fifth season of The Office just ended and since I'm a rabid fan of the show I decided I would write a review. However if your expecting it right now I can't give it to you. That is because I'm actually going to go back and watch the entire season again and then write a somewhat "official review" I can say with experience that the office requires more than a single watch per episode to fully appreciate it.

What I do want to note are my initial feelings about this season and what I think it means for the show, and my perception of it.

Here is what I feel right now--These perceptions may change!

A. Dwight has changed too much. Post Angela break up he has become more level headed and even quasi "cool" at times. I'm not sure I understand this. I don't think hes nearly as funny now as he was when he was a complete fool.

B. Jim and Pam. They weren't nearly as fun to watch. I like the fact that the writers actually have them together and I hope it stays that way because it is highly original but what I don't like is how they forcefully injected the relationship with drama. I.E. Pam's parents splitting up, that was dumb, and what is worse is that it was resolved in 1 episode. I like the Office involving subplots that get solved over several episodes, something that Jim and Pam always was. It took them an ENTIRE season to get together, and I liked that because it seemed so natural. That is what evolving as a couple is, it takes time. I think the biggest problem with Jim and Pam is that they didn't explore that initial period of them "dating" we missed that over the summer pre season 4.

C. Not enough real office shenanigans. I know people will disagree with me here but I like the Office when it is seems almost real at times. I loved the episode the surplus for this reason. It was a simple plot with a start and an end in one episode and it portrayed the office workers realistically. Sometimes I feel the writers went a little bit overboard with plots this season. The die hard fans of the Office got into it for its subtleties and I wish the writers would keep it that way. They can't let the mock overtake the umentary.

D.The Andy Angela Dwight love triangle. It just fell flat for me. It seemed highly out of character for Angela to date Andy for so long and ever pretend to like him. The end was funny, but it was also a little over the top, and now Angelas character seems permanently flawed to me.

I felt like overall it was a good season, Initial score would be a B- and that is simply because I felt the show was good but overly Ambitious. I'm excited to see what a second run through will do for me.

Concerning media piracy.

I read an article on CNN today about the leak of the recent Xmen movie before it was even in theaters. It was a real sad story, about how an industry with over a 10 BILLION dollar surplus was going to lose box office sales because some tech theifs manage to steal their movie and release it on the web.

It is true, I speak with an element of sarcasm in that last paragraph. The reason is because I do not feel bad for Hollywood and in general I do not feel bad for people getting their digital property stolen.

Call me a renegade, but the fact is times have changed. If people ask me why I pirate a song, the simple truth is because to me, the value of music in monetary terms is not what it used to be. In fact it is incredibly low, next to nothing. The thing about it is, music used to be records, tapes, cds. Physical objects that one had tangible ownership to them. Plus there was validity in the idea of having a physical, viewable collection of tunes.

Then came the Mp3 file and everything changed. Music was no longer a physical object, it was a tiny section of memory on a computers hard drive. At that moment, music would never be the same again especially in price. Yet the artists didn't lower the price for awhile after the release of music trading sites. Even now music is still overpriced.

I relate it to the PC itself. Back in the day a personal computer was a big deal. It was hard not to spend like 1000.00 on a machine, that in today's standards was absolute basic. Now you can get a PC to do the same thing, for like 450.00 Why? Because the technology behind making computers changed, they were easier to produce and their value (for the most part) fell in place for what they are actually worth.

Music and movies have never done that.

What I said about mp3s can also be applied to AVI/MPG files. In my mind, they decreased the real value of movies. And what have the movie theaters done? The JACKED up their prices even more. I'm now required to view a movie in theaters for the absolute asinine price of 9.00. That is a complete ripoff, for something that (given services like netflix) I can watch at home on my PC for a fair price.

I understand the value in going to the theaters for the screens and concessions, the whole "experience of it" But come on... 9 bucks is stupid.

The industry needs to realize that times and monetary value of movies/music has changed. Unfortunately the thought of them losing even a tiny bit of their plush empire keeps the prices way to high.

So, people will keep pirating, and I will keep supporting that.




Sam

-Internet Revolutionary Soldier ;-)