my coffee shop name

As you might know from here, they never get my name right at Starbucks. I have to repeat it several times and the name on my cup is still totally wrong or, at best, misspelled. So once, on a whim, when asked for my name, I uttered the first name that came to mind - Vivian. And they got it right with just one mention and the name on my cup was spelled correctly! So since then, I've been using Vivian as my Starbucks name.

But after this...

... maybe I should change it again. I do admit it made me smile na vumi-Vivienne Tam ang Starbucks cashier. But just like my real name, my once trusty coffee shop alias is now also misspelled! Sigh.

Do they get your name right at coffee shops? If they do, can I borrow it as my new Starbucks name? If you're willing to lend it, just leave your name in a comment or email it to me! :)

Hmmm... Or should I forego regular names altogether and go for something like this? 

Hmmm, what about "The Boss"? Nobody needs to know that "of my household" follows that name nowadays. :) But I imagine "The Boss" will need to be repeated several times before the barista gets it, and even then, I'm sure it can be spelled "Da Boss" on my cup every now and then. And even if I went the narcissistic route, "Goddess" (or "Dyosa" for that matter) could go wrong in many horrific ways. So maybe I should just call myself "Supergirl"?

Egad! Hope you leave a comment or email me the perfect coffee shop alias! Or I will start using Supergirl as my new Starbucks name. :( 

Photos are my own and from pinkwallpaper & polkadotshoppingbag.

Click here and here for previous posts related to Starbucks. Click here for extraordinary art on latte foam.

Today, I am unloving...

Who would have thought this tiny little green thing could make me sad? It's a plug for the coffee slit on Starbucks coffee cups - to prevent spilling on takeout orders.

Apparently, this has been around in other countries for a while now. Some say it was used even before Starbucks changed its logo here. Isn't it sad that our anti-spill solution in Manila is still this Post-it-flag-looking tape?

I first spotted this green little thing (I heard it's called a spill stick because the other end of the plug is a stir stick) during my recent trip to Hong Kong.

Coincidentally, my SIL (who just got back from working in New York) got used to the spill stick and last weekend, asked for one when she was given the tape. The Starbucks barista replied, "Ma'am, sa ibang bansa lang po yon. [Ma'am, they're only available in other countries.]".

I can't help it. I feel so sad for the Philippines. I guess, for me, it's a little green yardstick of progress. And sadly, Manila's not there yet. Today, I am unloving... that Starbucks' little green spill stick has not made it to the Philippines yet.

Photos are my own and from here.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am unloving... series.

Today, I am un-loving...

A couple of days ago, after dropping off the kids at school, I decided not to go straight to the office. I stopped at Starbucks for some me-time. My plan was to have grilled cheese and ground coffee beans to prepare me for the grilling at the grind that day. I even had a funny book, Ellen's latest, Seriously... I'm Kidding so I wouldn't take the work day ahead so seriously.

But at the counter, I discovered that Starbucks had phased out my favorite Grilled Ham & Three Cheese on Italian Country Bread (see related post here). The barista said they replaced it with the more delicious Ultimate Grilled Cheese sandwich so I tried that with my coffee.

It was NOT. It didn't have the cheesy goodness of my old favorite Starbucks sandwich. Today, I am un-loving... Starbucks' Ultimate Grilled Cheese sandwich because it just doesn't measure up to its old Three Cheese counterpart.

I did enjoy my me-time though. I guess next time, I am keeping my order to just coffee.

Today, I am un-loving... Starbucks' not-so-Ulimate Grilled Cheese sandwich.

Photo from sparklesandpretending.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am un-loving series.

my name is NOT Regina Phalange.

I was wearing this Regina Phalange shirt of mine today at Starbucks and after taking my order, the girl at the cash register looked at my "nametag" and decided against asking for my name.

That incredibly confused me because Regina Phalange was Phoebe Buffay's pseudonym. Just as Ken Adams was Joey Tribbiani's alternate name. And because I had an alternate Starbucks name of my own. They never could get my name right. I would repeat it three to four times and they would still get it wrong on the cup.

Barista: "Your name, ma'am?"

Me: "Epi."

Barista: "Emmy?" 

Me: "No, Epi."

Barista: "Ellie, ma'am?"

Me: "No, Epi."

Barista: "Eddie?"

Me: [sigh] I give in, "Yes, Eddie."

Scrawled on my cup: "Teddy" [mild expletive under my breath]

So one day, when the Starbucks barista asked for my name, I uttered, "Vivian". And they got it in one shot! The spelling on the cup was right too! From then on, my Starbucks name became "Vivian".

So imagine my confusion when the Starbucks barista did not only NOT call me by my real name "Epi", but also did NOT call me by my pseudonym "Vivian". Instead, she called me by a new name: "One Coffee Jelly Frap for Ms. Regina".

Disclaimers:
1. Yes, I am a Friends fanatic. See related post here and here.
2. Epi is not my real, real name. Neither is Vivian. Nor Regina.
3. I didn't use my old nick (during my IRC/mIRC/ICQ days of yore) because that would have been a similarly long and confusing dialogue. 

 Photo from here.

Today, I am un-loving...

Today, I was un-loving... the new Starbucks logo. Until I started the research and photo search for this post. Somehow, it doesn't look as bad in this beautiful photo, especially after watching the video and reading through the lengthy process of how the designers arrived at the new logo here. 

It's funny because if you think about it, all they really did was take out the outer ring with the name, change the black into green and enlarge. It doesn't seem commensurate to the process they went through - here's an excerpt.

"From the start, we wanted to recognize and honor the important equities of the iconic Starbucks logo. So we broke down the four main parts of the mark – color, shape, typeface and the Siren. After hundreds of explorations, we found the answer in simplicity. Removing the words from the mark, bringing in the green, and taking the Siren out of her ring. For forty years she’s represented coffee, and now she is the star."

It's even more hilarious because I work in that field (Marketing) that requires and develops a 300-page powerpoint presentation to justify a logo change when it can be done by any designer in just 3 easy steps: (1) delete outer ring, (2) change color from black to green, and (3) enlarge. And I'm not even counting the countless hours spent on the strategic plan that eventually rendered the old logo with "coffee" limiting that necessitated drafting a brief for the design agency that started all this. Neither am I counting the countless meetings, revisions and approvals that went into this quite simple logo change. If I worked at Starbucks doing the same thing I've been doing for the past 14 years, my job would have been to prepare that lengthy rationale for top management, attend those meetings that would extend late at night because existential questions about the brand would be raised, provide the design agency with strategic inputs for revision (and that means you're not allowed to make executional comments like "delete the word coffee") because we would not be happy yet with the logo after the 11th submission. It's such a fresh perspective to be on the outside looking in at this Starbucks case. I'm sure the Marketing guys at Starbucks prepared for this so long and hard; but to a regular consumer, Playhouse Disney's Special Agent Oso could have done it in his usual "3 special steps".

And as a regular consumer, despite wavering for a while there, I realize I am still un-loving this new logo. It doesn't look as bad on the white cup because the absence of a white outline is not as pronounced. But it looks awful on an empty plastic cup! Yes, I realize this filled clear cup is not helping my case at all.

And my futile search for an image of the new logo on a plastic cup is now making me wonder... Will the new Starbucks logo go the way of the new Gap logo, which lasted all of about a week in 2010?

Photos from dieline and my own cam.