I'd also like to add another perspective. I am not anti-branding, and I don't necessarily think Starbucks is evil. I am not a coffee drinker, and neither is anyone in my family, so take it for what it's worth.
For me it is about the "starbucks generation" or "starbucks culture" as I call it. There are some people, and by some people, I am including some of my closest relatives, whose lives revolve around getting their daily Starbucks. And, I think we have all been somewhere and seen large groups of people walking around like zombies with their Starbucks fix in their hands, and at least one of them says, in a monotone voice, "I just cannot function until I've had my macchiato."
Semi OT: the conversation when big city salespeople come to our small town office
Them: "Where's the nearest Starbucks?"
Me: "About an hour and a half away"
(Eyes get wide and jaw drops) Them: "Well where do you go for good coffee in this town?"
Me: (Completely serious) "Gas station"
They then look at me like we eat our own young and have two heads.
I am not trying to begrudge those who like or even love Starbucks. I have been there a handful of times. I can usually find something I like. But, I think of the sign that says, "Here you leave today, and enter a world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy." As I said before, I am not against brand names at Disney. For me the whole "Starbucks culture" is not a part of yesterday, tomorrow, or fantasy (well maybe some people's fantasies)
That said, I figure the percentage of people that will stop for Starbucks will be relatively low, so I won't encounter many glassy eyed "gotta have my coffee" walking dead, and I will be there bright-eyed, bushy tailed, focused, and filled with hope, so I won't even notice any of it.
Wow, with all the drama, nit-pickery, snarkiness and overall rudeness of the posts, I'm very surprised that the thread has gone on this long.There seem to be two types of disagreements. There are those who understand the situation but feel their opinion is the only right one and everyone else who feels differently is wrong and needs to be belligerently corrected. Then there are those who do not understand the facts surrounding the situation and form an opinion based entirely upon emotion and completely refuse to see anything that conflicts with their preconceived notions. Pretty standard for the Disboards.
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