nobucks

i unfollowed starbucks. starbucks never responded to any of my earnest requests for free samples of via long before it hit the shelves. starbucks isn’t a person. it can’t possibly be authentically chummy with so many strangers. and don’t tell me “starbucks” remembers all the creatures that tweet him. her. it.

i can’t be bothered with “starbucks’” insipid tweets. it’s like a commercial that is pretending to be everybody’s friend.

Filed under: annoying, coffee, decaf, instant coffee, starbucks, stupid things, twitter, coffee

dear starbucks: i am an idiot

so i have been angry at starbucks for not sending me a sample of via, their new instant coffee product that sounds like it is an economy car or even a very healthy, whole grain vegetarian food for pets. you may wonder, why would starbucks be sending me a sample? well, i sent a few tweets asking. nothing happened. no response.

know why?

starbucks requested permission to ‘follow’ me on twitter and i kept on deferring the decision. i thought that they would collect marketing data by listening to my tweets of pain, happiness, boredom, consumerism. they would pass my words through their special new media filtration system and generate reports, lists, tendencies, theories about my likes and dislikes. they would discern all kinds of information about me and i did not want that to happen. not unless they were paying me.

not only are they not paying me, but i am paying them. every time i buy a drink, i am paying them to participate in their brand. and the coffee is good, too, but nobody should be paying that much for a damn cup of coffee. so, anyway, i did not allow them to follow me.

then yesterday i realized: they are not getting my tweets if they are not following me because my updates are private. that is, unless you receive my individual blessing, you may not see my tweets. so, i am an idiot. here i am being mad at them when they don’t even _know_ that i want some samples.

i have granted them permission and let them know about my wishes. we’ll see.

Filed under: coffee, instant coffee, sample, starbucks, tweet, twitter, via, coffee

starbucks is not my friend

i sent a tweet to starbucks the other day requesting a free sample of their new instant coffee product, via. my tweet was not acknowledged. i realized that there is no way anybody is really managing all those millions of incoming tweets. they are randomly sending out contrived tweets that sound like some casual helpy worker is zipping around town providing starbucks related information all the time. it is nonsense. i have not allowed starbucks to follow me on twitter. i was conflicted about this for a while, but no more.

on the other hand, i do like that somebody is seeing my tweet. do you think they are ignoring this potential marketing data? no, they are not. i will tweet.

Filed under: coffee, starbucks, tweet, twitter, coffee