If you’ve not heard the Starbucks bit about passing the cheer yet you’ve probably not been to a Starbucks lately or, for that matter, watched TV at primetime. (Not that that’s a bad thing.) The promotional concept, as it were (and it was and is a promo stunt, no matter how you drip, mix, foam or double-shot it), is that Starbuckians the world over should effectively pay it forward by sharing some cheerful joyful happy-happy goodwill with a neighbor next door or a pen pal in a galaxy far, far away, albeit through a website developed for just such a task … Pass the Cheer here.
There are also ‘real world’ stories about conga lines of cheer-passing, wherein the person in front of you pays for your venti of joe, and so on and so on down the line, similar to paying the turnpike or parking booth toll for the driver behind you, totally kumbaya. In fact (though likely with two scoops of fiction), a local rag in Marysville, Washington reported that just such a good deed set off a chain of 1,013 Starbucks customers who each paid for the next person’s drink.
The critics, and there are many (though mostly the usual suspects waiting impatiently for a reason, big or small, to skewer Seattle’s behemoth yet again) frame all of this as premeditated capitalist hokum and a shameless way to build brand awareness. But I’m going to stick to a more holistic view and say I don’t see it that way, so black and white, good or bad, for the same reason that I’m not particularly upset that so many corporations have jumped on the Green bandwagon … if the message is good, let’s get it out there. And if the company increases sales, well, OK, good for them.
Or maybe I’m just being soft here on the heels of a December 25th? I know that there are few if any companies (with the exception of maybe The Body Shop, Newman’s Own, and Ben and Jerry’s) that truly walk the social venture walk. But for now, sure, I can buy Pass the Cheer, why not. I mean, I still hold a fondness for Santa riding Norelcos through a winterwonderland and polar bears sipping Cokes. That said, three cheers to all, and to all a good night (assuming you’re not too caffeinated to sleep).
Posted by: Colin Mangham
