Starbucks Strikers Spared You a Sugar Cookie Latte Coma
This is a short snippet of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a holiday menu of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions, by Jessica Karl . To get the full version of this newsletter in your inbox daily, sign up here.
Today’s Agenda
The Red Cup Rebellion
Excuse me for my bluntness, but I have to ask: If you live in New York City and you are a Starbucks regular, what is wrong with you?? Are you having trouble finding a bathroom? Do their cake pops have you in a chokehold? I’m telling you, there are PLENTY of other coffee shops with superior beans and olive oil cakes. Plus, those stores don’t sue their workers when they disagree with them. There’s no reason for you to have to get your overpriced cup of caffeine from one of the roughly 350 Starbucks locations in this godforsaken city!
Today is the coffee chain’s Red Cup Day, a promotion that lets patrons snag a free reusable cup after ordering any of their “holiday drinks.” (I put that in air quotes because, really, these are just desserts you can sip through a straw — the iced sugar cookie latte literally has sprinkles on top.) Last year, Red Cup Day was the most profitable sales day of all time for Starbucks, even though workers went on strike at more than 100 stores. This year, Starbucks Workers United is at it again. But will their strike make a dent in profits? Beth Kowitt isn’t holding her breath.
For years now, Starbucks workers across the country have “been locked in a bitter battle with management” over their efforts to organize, she writes. The union is “calling the action its biggest strike ever” and wants customers to get in on the boycott. Based on a quick perusal of TikTok, some people are taking it seriously: “Make sure you set your alarms extra early so that you have time to MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN CUP OF COFFEE AT HOME,” one user said. “No holiday menu. No cookie crumble latte. No red cup is gonna get us to go inside that establishment,” another announced. But just as many Starbies diehards appear to be completely oblivious about the strike. So while the messaging of the #RedCupRebellion is strong, it might not be as strong as the company’s loyalty program, which accounts for nearly 60% of its US sales. “Even consumers who have the best of intentions rarely follow through when they find themselves at the register,” Beth says.
Consider the principles behind Red Cup Day. On the Starbucks website, it’s marketed as a “green” event: “Using a personal reusable cup is a great way to help Starbucks reduce waste by 50 percent by 2030,” they write. But what they don’t tell you is that the baristas are not even serving the drinks in these reusable cups! Instead, they pour your handcrafted holiday heart attack into a paper cup and hand you an empty plastic one on the side. Also, all reusable cups have a “breakeven point,” as David Fickling has explained. So unless everyone is using their free cup 30+ times, it’s not helping the environment at all. You’d hope that customers would realize this, but what can I say? People will go absolutely feral for free stuff.
Telltale Charts
Here’s a mystery for you: How come the US Labor Department’s CPI estimate of rent inflation is more than twice what Zillow is reporting? Justin Fox says it’s because CPI rent reflects everybody’s rents, while Zillow measures asking rents on available properties. In March 2022, those asking rents were up by 16%, but CPI shelter inflation was only 5%, since plenty of folks were still on leases that predated the big price bumps. “Now we’re seeing the flip side,” Justin writes, where CPI rent stays elevated but on-the-market rental prices have calmed down. “The good news is that CPI rents and market rents will converge eventually. The bad news is that it may take a while,” he notes.
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Further Reading
Free read: Xi makes up with Biden. Now what about Trump? — Minxin Pei
Generic drug manufacturers have a bankruptcy problem. — Bloomberg’s editorial board
Xi’s officials are lying flat when the economy needs them to act. — Shuli Ren
The game of cricket is facing a climate-change crisis. — Adam Minter
Just because international law is hard to enforce doesn’t mean it’s worthless. — Andreas Kluth
The Arab states should deliver a clear message to Israel. — Bobby Ghosh
How to prevent disaster in the world's most important financial market. — Bill Dudley
A restaurant showdown for the ages in a tiny town in Spain. — Howard Chua-Eoan
Notes: Please send Hot Cocoa Oreos and feedback to Jessica Karl at [email protected].
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Acupuncture at Independent:
1 年nice red cup day is NovembeR 16 2023 !!!! will definitely be stopping in to show my support... these people should be happy they have a fun job and if they don't like working the bar...maybe they should get into pizza we know everybody loves pizza??