McDonald’s has erected a billboard in sight of Starbucks headquarters declaring, “four bucks is dumb.” If Dunkin’ Donuts’ taste test commercials were the schoolyard equivalent of blowing spitballs at the coffee giant from afar, then the latest from McDonald’s is like pulling a wedgie. Starbucks employees driving northbound can see the billboard on their way into the city.

Another billboard slogan jabs, “large is the new grande.” The two phrases are displayed on 140 billboards in Western Washington, some of them near Starbucks cafes.

“The billboard placement was done because we picked high visibility locations,” said Alan Finkelstein, who owns four McDonald’s in King County. “We really wanted to point out that ordering an espresso at McDonald’s is quick and simple. Small, medium and large. It’s easy.”

While the coffee wars received much media and Wall Street trumpeting this year, Starbucks has been mostly silent, maintaining that its customer base is different.

Starbucks could fire back that not all of its coffee costs four bucks, or that extra cents help pay for health care for baristas. (A 12-ounce cup of brew starts at $1.40 at Starbucks, a penny more than the average McDonald’s brew price. A small McDonald’s latte costs $1.99 compared with $2.45 to $3.15 at Starbucks.) Instead, it is fighting back in a more subtle way. Executives have hinted that Starbucks is taking the high road. “We’re not going to get into that conversation. We’re not going to get sucked into the, ‘My coffee is better than your coffee,’ price point type of coffee conversation. We’re going to play at a much higher level.”

I never understood the pretentiousness of Starbucks. And yeah, 4 bucks is dumb.




  1. Angel H. Wong says:

    What about Dunkin’s coffee?

  2. eds70 says:

    Hey, 1.75 times 30 equals over $50 a month. Glad to know your budget can handle that. BTW, my TiVo HD works great, as does my computer network, XM radio, my 50″ LCD, and my Vista computers. Let’s budget for the really “good” things in life!!

  3. Angel H. Wong says:

    #14

    I’m getting this message

    You do not have rights to view the article

    Purchase this document:
    Price payable: GBP £13.00
    plus handling charge of GBP £1.50 and VAT where applicable.
    Purchase

    And you know what? That is also why online news magazine go bellyup too.

  4. morram says:

    Oh My Gad.. the coffee Qs are so lame. Hanging out at StarBucks? What an odd wasteful life you have. And argue about it on top of that. I’d be ashamed to admit it myself. No wonder America is becoming so pitiful. You all sound like a bunch of ladies under the hair dryer. Bring on the lite beers

  5. E.C. Dinovo says:

    Yay #21! Peet’s really does have superior espresso when compared to Starbuck’s, I also like how they add foam to their iced drinks.

    I’ll concede that the $3.75 per day habit is a bit of an excise, but as many posters have already mentioned it’s a lifestyle choice. If you use your trip to the coffee shop as a break away from stress, or a place to read computer journals or whatever, it can be worth it.

  6. turbo says:

    And I believe McDonalds has free Wi-Fi…although I wouldn’t bring my laptop inside a McDonalds for fear that I might get jacked in the parking lot.

  7. amodedoma says:

    I’ve tried both, Starbucks is better. However, I never really tried coffee till I came to Spain. Maybe it’s the bean, the roast, the grind, or whatever, but the coffee I’ve had in Starbucks was way inferior to the worst coffee I’ve ever drunk here. Every time I go home on vacation I really look forward to coming back to cafe con leche, cortado, or solo. That and fresh bread every day.

  8. nuttybar08 says:

    I’m a coffee junkie and either McD’s or S-bux do me just fine as long as I don’t have to drink their “everyday” Pike’s Place pisswater. I do prefer to hang out at Starbucks and have never had an issue with snobbery from any of the baristas, ever, even if I say “large” or don’t tip. They’re mostly young women who seem relatively happy to have a decent job serving coffee and espresso drinks. I live in a smaller metro area so maybe that makes a difference…

  9. JoJo Dancer says:

    Great eds70!

    Not only did you state that paying $1.75 for a cup of joe is DUMB. You just showed the ways in which you are DUMB by your choosing to only pay for certain DUMB things, and for not listening to your own DUMB advice.

    I would say that’s pretty damn DUMB there. I really hope your not in any way able to drive a car. Good lord man!

    Would hate to be the person next to you while your opening up gifts!

    Happy Holidays tho!

  10. bobbo says:

    Buy the cheapest espresso machine (around $35) and make your own at home. Much better than coffee–in fact coffee now tastes like flavored water and is not enjoyed any more.

    The bean and its roasting does make a huge difference. Starbucks makes a good cup of espresso but homemade is an acceptable second place and much cheaper. I use Yuban.

    As a treat, Costco roasts its beans right on premises. Always nice to pick up a fresh bag there.

    I also keep shakers of cocao and sugar mix along with shaved chocolate and nutmeg depending on my mood.

    Live long and enjoy.

  11. GregA says:

    #39,

    Merry Christmas! Biatch!

  12. cheapdaddy says:

    I personally prefer Tim Hortons, but with the current economy, I’ve been getting my coffee at the Gas n’ Go for a buck a cup.

  13. JoJo Dancer says:

    Hey morram, you’ve got to be pretty damn near retarded to state how ashamed we all should be for arguing over the price and necessity of coffee, when you yourself have just entered this “argument” by stating your point.

    You are no better than us.

    Yes lick the floor, lick the floor. Lick it.

  14. Floyd says:

    Don’t like Starbucks: burnt beans and too expensive.
    Don’t like McD’s coffee either: their coffee is kept too hot and sometimes burns customers.

    I prefer non-franchised coffee if I can get it. The only franchised coffee I really liked was Seattle’s Best.

    Locally (Albuquerque), I like Satellite Coffee or Java Joe’s.

  15. Montanaguy says:

    I have no political beef with Starbucks, just the pretentiousness of asking for a “small” coffee and getting the retort, “..do you mean tall?”.
    I just want to scream, ” Fnck no! SMALL!!!!! Not large, not medium, SMALL…i.e. not big, not huge , not tall…SMALL” I won’t go near those places unless I’m on the road and desperate.

  16. Mister Mustard says:

    #32 – eds70

    >>my TiVo HD works great, as does …my 50″
    >>LCD, and my Vista computers.

    You almost had me there, Eds. I was believing you, until you said that your Vista computers “work great”.

    That will just never happen.

  17. Mister Mustard says:

    #36 – turbo

    >>And I believe McDonalds has free Wi-Fi…

    Lose the belief. McDonald’s has WiFi, but it’s not free. You have to sign up for a T-Mobile account, either for the day, or for a longer term.

  18. GregA says:

    #47,

    Works fine on my iPhone.

  19. GregA says:

    #47,

    Works fine on my iPhone.

  20. heehee says:

    Starbucks Can Kiss My A**
    Whenever I go there to buy a simple cup of coffee, they expect me to participate in the “Starbucks Experience”. And if I order my coffee “wrong”, I get corrected by some minimum-wage-twit who couldn’t articulate their way home. They don’t sell their coffees in Small, Medium or Large. NOOOOO! They have some pretentious bulls**t names like Tall (which is small), Grande and Venti. WTF? Venti is not even a word – it is a Starbucks word – look closely at the menu, they have the word Venti trademarked! They made up the f’ng word! And then they train their staff to not respond to normal words like, “I would like a small cup of coffee.” They ask me, “You mean a Tall?” Let me see – I’m looking at three cups: a short one, a medium one and a tall one. I don’t want the tall one, I didn’t bring that much money – I want the short f***er! Read my f’ng lips: IT IS NOT TALL, IT IS SHORT! Goddamn – no wonder the poor bastards who work at Starbucks are dyslexic. I can see it now – guys, let’s use the Starbucks method for sizing up our c**ks. Here, some poor guy has the shortest one, but we will call it the Long c**k. Then someone with a medium-sized c**k is now Mondo and the guy with the big honker gets to call it Bando. That’s right – Bando. I made up that word and you have to use it or I will ignore you. And every woman/man can take pleasure in knowing that her/his man is at least Long. And what is with these other Starbucks code words, like “With Room” or “Extra Shot”? How f’ng pretentious is that? I even notice Starbucks Snobs in line practicing their order so they can whiz through all the special vernacular so, are you ready for this, they can order a cup of coffee.
    I would go on, but I am getting hungry. I’m heading over to Geno’s to get a cheese steak wit. Later.
    ————
    I wish I could take credit for this but I saw it on Craig’sList.

  21. Floyd says:

    #46 MM: you’re unjustifiably snarky about Vista. I’ve had a Vista PC for a year that’s crashed less (once–and it was a bad driver from Intel that was swiftly updated) than either my old XP computer or my wife’s Mac.

    OTOH I will never pay for WiFi from McDucks. Too many places with free WiFi like Arby’s and friendly coffee stands. Even our deli has free WiFi for our customers.

  22. BdgBill says:

    DusanMal #16

    Bring known amount of water to boil in tall vessel, quite larger than amount of the water.
    Remove from the heat. Stir in 1 rounded teaspoon of finely ground coffee (finer than for espresso if possible, I use 100+ yrs old hand operated burr grinder attached to the modern electric drill) per 1/8th of the cup of water used. Carefully bring back to boil while stirring, remove from heat when foam rises to the top, let it settle, repeat two more times. Pour in the cup. Do not add other ingredients. Drink and enjoy.

    Umm, I think this is a recipe for making WWI Army Coffee. On the battle field. It certainly will not produce anything a modern human would recognize as “coffee”.

    You don’t boil coffee! You certainly don’t boil it three times. Do you have unsafe drinking water or something?

    Grind beans “finer than for espresso”, boil three times, “let it settle” than pour it in the cup? No filtering huh? Daring move sir!

    Are your teeth brown by any chance? Do you sometimes suffer “intestinal distress” after drinking this concoction?

    I urge you to give Folgers Crystals a try. It has all the simplicty you are after but will rot you insides at a somewhat slower pace.

  23. bobbo says:

    There is no right and wrong with taste. If you like your coffee boiled, then thats how you like it.

    I’d simply add==try every method out there and see which way you like it.

    Some people DO like a bit of the grind in the cup ala French Press and all the turkish cups.

    Some weak beans do taste better burned. Burned at the roasting mill or burned in the cup.

    Whats your preference?

  24. Mister Mustard says:

    #50 – teehee

    >>WTF? Venti is not even a word – it is a
    >>Starbucks word

    Technically, it IS a word. “Venti” is Italian for twenty, and the large (woops, Venti) purportedly contains 20 ounces.

    Still that doesn’t forgive them for creating an asinine (and misleading) lexicon of their own, nor does it forgive Seattle’s Best Coffee (which also uses ”Tall” for small and ”Grande” for medium) for calling ITS large cup size “Grande Supremo”.

    But if they didn’t do that, how could they charge extra for the “cachet”? {gak}. The coffee’s the same shit they sell everywhere; better than some, worse than others.

    Small, medium, large. Time tested, everyone understands it, and it makes sense.

  25. Mister Mustard says:

    #51 – Floyd

    >>you’re unjustifiably snarky about Vista.

    Well, whatever floats your boat. I have had a Vista PC for almost two years; I have a Mac, and two XP computers. I almost NEVER use the Vista machine. I take it with me sometimes when I travel, but only because it’s lighter, and then mostly TO LOG ON THROUGH MY VPN TO MY WORK COMPUTER, WHERE I CAN US XP!!!

    Go with the flow, Floyd. The OS is a piece of shit. Even the most vocal of the Vista proponents only make the claim that Vista “works as well as” XP. Except you need to beef up your computer by about 400% to get the same performance.

  26. bobbo says:

    “I’d like a small coffee.”

    We have Tall, Grande, or Grande Supremo, which would you like?

    “Give me a small cup of coffee or I’m leaving this dump.”

    ///// What would the burrista do?

  27. LowTechNo says:

    This is an interesting web site about StarBucks.

    http://www.ihatestarbucks.com

  28. ECA says:

    Ok..
    for those that DONT get the point…

    EVEN if you RAW BEAN coffee, was $50 per pound..
    they will make 100 cups of coffee from it..
    WHICH is about $0.50 per cup, and you are spending $3-5 for that cup..
    DIRECt from the importer coffee, is only $0.50-$5 per POUND..and thats the EXPENSIVE STUFF..
    COST of your coffee BEFORE ROASTING is < 5 cents.
    AFTEr roasting < 6 cents..

    MARKUP for McD or Starbucks, is ABOUT 100/1..
    you WOULDNT pay that for your CAR, HOUSE, TV…

  29. Brian says:

    The people saying starbucks is overpriced and/or bad are simply trolls who think that the biggest company of whatever is evil: they’re the same people who frown on microsoft, who support apple, etc. etc.

    Look, if you’re too ignorant to read the cups they have at every damn starbucks which illustrates what a small, medium, or large is, then you shouldn’t be allowed to leave your house. And please, #56, if you honestly think if someone ordered a ‘small’ coffee and the barista would get into a confrontation with the customer, then you’re even more idiotic than I first thought.

  30. bobbo says:

    #59–WEll!!!! I’ve never been so insulted. Well just the other day Mustard did want to share his astroglide with me, THAT was worse.

    But here “Brian” (as if thats your real name!) I’m just following the flow of this particular thread and asking a question.

    This post should pretty well show you I’m not thinking much at all but at least I can pose a hypothetical that gets you in a tiff without even having the integrity of answering the hypothetical before you start belittling me===kinda like the jackoff in the hypothetical I posed.

    Was that YOU Brian???????????

    And by the way, what else is asking someone what they want after they order a “small” but a confrontation of sorts?????

    Maybe I’ve had too much coffee????


2

Bad Behavior has blocked 5566 access attempts in the last 7 days.