Starbucks Uses G20 Protests for Advertising

I'm not a 100% sure where to put this thread but I've been following the G20 protests on Twitter and it seems that someone named "YumCoffee" and sporting the Starbucks logo as their avatar has been advertising on the #G20 Twitter stream with advertisements like:

Staying the night? Stay warm with a latte! 74-78 Finsbury Pavement #imcg20 #climatecamp #g20

Looking for the inside scoop? Find out What's Brewing at the local Starbucks -74-78 Finsbury Pavement #imcg20 #climatecamp #g20

I have to say, this makes me sick. You know our society is in trouble when corporations are using economic and social unrest as a basis for advertisement.

This isn't the first time either, there is a car commercial going around the television that sells you a car based on the idea that if you lose your job you can return it no problem.

We, as a society ARE. IN. TROUBLE

YumCoffee on Twitter

#G20 on Twitter

It's your society, not mine.

You're right though, they are in trouble.

reply to post by Nirgal


Well, I meant Modern society and not British or American society so I fail to see how you're not a part of it but I'm glad you agree lol

I have to agree they just don't get the gravity of the situation or are intentionally provoking people. I think the hyundai commercial pretending they give a crap about you is more an example of the former but this is the latter.

reply to post by CapsFan8


It just seems so absolutely twisted to me. The car commercial opens with "Your father always said it's easier to get a job when you have a job. We say it's easier to get a job when you have a car."

They're selling cars to people based on the concept that they are currently unemployed!!! This is why we're in the situation we're in!!

I honestly don't even know what to say about it. It's just sick and wrong on so many levels.

And then to think that Starbucks sees this social unrest in London as a perfect business opportunity just boggles my mind!

I mean, it shows absolutely no shame what so ever and shows that those that have care very little for those that have not as long as they keep spending what little money they have on over priced and over brewed coffee.

reply to post by Shadowflux


No I totally agree with you, that is a lot of the problem. They have no shame, because there is no one that can be shamed. It's just a corporate entity, they don't get ashamed. They are taking advantage of people's fears, they are acting like this is a normal downturn, they are encouraging something similar to what the banks did letting people get new houses they couldn't afford. Have you seen the article about used car sales being WAY up, at least compared to new cars? You don't need a new car. They just won't give up their old paradigm thinking. Profits first.

reply to post by CapsFan8


It just blows my mind, I can't even think of a good analogy for it. The government and these corporations are like junkies, but it's worse than that even. It's like a drug dealer selling drugs to make bail. It's just sick.

I'm glad I'm not the only one disturbed by this.

Ya'll are definitely not the only ones disturbed by this. The lengths government will go to try and keep up the consumer debt model economy. And why? Throwing money at us and encouraging us to spend more now and pay for it later, so they can see our debts to China. It's ridiculous!

Peter Schiff was on tv today talking nonsense... saying things like (paraphrasing) "Government shouldn't be encouraging us to by more new cars, because we're in debt up to our eyeballs already from buying too many new cars in the first place. Americans need to save their money, they don't need to go into more debt to buy more new cars. This is insane. We need to save our money and produce stuff." What a crazy idea.

Experiment over. I'm not associated with Starbucks.

There ya go, mystery solved, lol.

reply to post by Nventual


This came from where?

EDIT: Alright, I found where it came from, but honestly it doesn't solve anything, it creates a mystery where there was none. Kind of frustrating.


[edit on 1-4-2009 by Shadowflux]

reply to post by evilod


I agree completely, the idea that Americans need to spend money to stimulate the economy would hold more water if the American people had the money to spend. If we had a trickle-up economy where the government gave out 11.6 trillion dollars to the populace to pay off debts and mortgages then the banks wouldn't have failed, people wouldn't have lost their homes and the economy would be stimulated.

Instead the government wants to bleed us dry on both ends. Sending trillions to criminal bankers while encouraging us to spend what few pennies we have left makes absolutely no sense by any stretch of logic.