Starbucks' Ground Zero ad pulled. Q? Is it really offensive?

[mekannik]

June 18, 2002 -- A Starbucks ad campaign has ground to a halt after concerns that its posters - including one displayed near Ground Zero - callously mimicked the Sept. 11 tragedy.
The tempest in a teapot revolved around 3,000 window displays touting summer tea brews by depicting two "twin" cups of the concoction standing side-by-side in tall, squared-off blades of grass with dragonflies dive-bombing into one of them.

The words "Collapse into Cool" are printed above the image.

Starbucks has now yanked the posters - and none too soon.

"As a New Yorker who watched the whole [Sept. 11] incident outside my window . . . seeing the poster in Starbucks directly across from Ground Zero adds some resonance that perhaps the people in Seattle did not grasp," fumed customer Gregory Moore, who first complained to The Post.


http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/50613.htm


Maybe I am truly more insensitive then I give myself credit for - but I think pulling the ad is a bit of a stretch. Maybe if the people looking at the ad were dropping acid and searching for some meaning...

 

[casavant]

I have to think that there is no way that they would intentionally do that. Why in the hell would you make fun of one of the greatest tragedies to ever occur on home soil, less than a year after it happened, in the hopes of selling more product? It had to have just been a MAJOR brain fart on the part of advertising executives.

...I'm hoping, anyway.

 

[The Shadow]

Sorry - but the "divebombing dragonflyes" I did not see until attention was made about them, even now - I dunno.


Distastefull - perhaps

Intentiona - probably not

 

[frorider6]

Talk about bullshit. If I saw that ad, I never would have associated it with the Twin Towers. People in New York are just pissed at Starbucks because that one store near the attack was selling water bottles instead of giving them away (which was probably just some kid behind the counter that didn't have to authority or the balls to give it away). Now people are just tuned in to anything Starbucks does, ready to attack.

 

[john937]

Fro nailed it. Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[mekannik]

Interesting thought, Frorider. So when a company does not follow the Home Depot catastrophe plan (give away free product to win public favor and future sales) - they are held under the microscope more stringently.


More than anything else - I was hoping to get the opinions of some New Yorkers to this article.

 

[frorider6]

Interesting thought, Frorider. So when a company does not follow the Home Depot catastrophe plan (give away free product to win public favor and future sales) - they are held under the microscope more stringently.

Yes.

Starbucks was criticized heavily for not giving away free water bottles after the Towers collapsed. I'm pretty sure it was just some kids working the counter that didn't have the authority to do that. A couple of hours after the Towers collapsed, they did in fact start giving away the bottles.

I think I have the facts correct. It was all over the news in the weeks following the attack.

Also, if you read the story closely, the whole uproar was caused when 1 person in New York free associated and saw the Twin Towers and complained to the Post. The Post then ran with it like a dog stealing a cheeseburger.

 

[THeMaCHinE]

Image: http://snopes2.com/rumors/images/toocool.jpg

Starbuck's Statement:

June 7, 2002

Starbucks deeply regrets if this poster was in any way misinterpreted to be insensitive or offensive as this was never our intent. All retail stores in North America (United States and Canada) were instructed to pull the posters immediately and are in the process of doing so.

The Tazo Ice Blended Tea beverages represented on this particular poster are part of Starbucks blended beverage line-up that also includes Frappuccino Blended Beverages. Starbucks introduced Tazo Ice Blended Tea to accompany Frappuccino Blended Beverages. This poster is part of a larger summer campaign that includes over 30 pieces including print ads, radio ads, outdoor advertising and in-store posters.

The specific names of these beverages featured on the poster are Tazo Citrus and Tazoberry. The poster depicts product shots of the two beverages sitting on a field of green "grass"made with Starbucks signature green straws. The overall concept of the poster was to create a somewhat magical place using bright colors and fun, whimsical elements such as palm trees, dragonflies, butterflies and pinwheels. The headline "Collapse into cool, Try a new Tazo Citrus with tangerine, orange and lime." was meant to conjure up feelings of cooling off on a hot summer day.

 

[frorider6]

Notice how they couldn't help but saturate that apology with more advertising!



"We're sorry our wonderful Tazo Ice Blended Tea to accompany Frappuccino Blended Beverages made some people have poopy feeling. So try our cool refreshing tasty blended beverage line-up today!"

 

[Warik]

Notice how they couldn't help but saturate that apology with more advertising!

And rightly so... if a bunch of fucking little crybabies cause them to lose millions after producing an ad and getting it yanked at the beginning of the campaign, they are entitled to some free advertising. =)

I honestly would not have thought twice about that picture unless someone said: "hey look! it's a WTC mockery!" If anyone had told me that those green blades of grass were buildings I'd say: "uh, they're straws jackass."

I'm surprised Microsoft isn't stuck in another lawsuit because Office 2000 had those skull & crossbones and thumbs up shit if you typed it in a certain font.

WHY DOES THE MEDIA LISTEN TO THESE REJECTS!?!?!?

-Warik

 

[Frackal]

No one's sued them about that yet? I'm calling my lawyer