May 24, 2003
Caffeinated Marketing
Laurence Lessig calls for us all to take pictures at our local Starbucks this weekend and Mac-a-ro-nies takes up the call.
I thought they were both doing something more then caffeine until I stopped by my local Starbucks about and hour ago and asked about this strange policy. Barrista Girl had not heard anything about people not being allowed to take pictures inside a Starbucks. Barrista Dude from the back room said, oh yeah, no pictures, no still cameras, no video cameras, and he had no clue why.
A call to Starbuck's Customer Service number revealed that they close down at 3 PM on weekends. Check back tomorrow for what they have to say.
They must drink a special blend in their corporate offices to come up with a policy that seems so contrary to good marketing.
UPDATE (5/25) Customer service says: Starbucks does not allow pictures to be taken of specifically proprietary stuff like recipes, menu boards, etc., but has no global ban on pictures: it should be just fine for the three ladies in Lessig's story to take each other's picture. Folks who run into problems with this policy are encouraged to report them to Customer Service (800-235-2883) either on the spot or after the fact.
