Posted on 05/10/2007 5:05:12 AM PDT by Gopher Broke
Starbucks markets more 'anti-God' coffee cups
Company welcomes national dialogue despite boycott threat by some patrons
Posted: May 9, 2007
By Joe Kovacs
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Coffeehouse giant Starbucks is standing by its campaign to put thought-provoking messages on its coffee cups despite a national uproar and threat of boycott over a message some felt was "anti-God."
Controversy erupted this week after a customer became steamed reading a quote that stated:
"Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."
The quote was written by Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario, Canada, and was included as part of Starbucks' "The Way I See It" campaign to collect different viewpoints and spur discussion.
A WND story posted Sunday afternoon publicizing the cup became a hot topic on national radio shows this week including Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham.
One reader, Ken Peck of Lakeland, Fla., has since purchased a coffee with another message he felt was a slam against his Christian faith, and snapped a photograph of it.
Ken Peck of Lakeland, Fla., was not thrilled when he purchased this Starbucks cup with a message he felt was anti-Christian
The message reads:
Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell. -- Joel Stein, columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
"There's absolutely no reason to put that out on a cup," Peck told WND. "From a marketing standpoint, it blows me away. I don't put a picture of Christ of my business card."
Peck says the issue has energized him to push for a boycott of Starbucks in favor of other local coffeehouses in Polk Co., Fla.
"Everyone I've shown the cup to has been flabbergasted, whether they have a faith in Christ or not," he said.
Seattle-based Starbucks, meanwhile, is making no apologies about the God-related messages, nor its campaign.
"We are committed to this program," Starbucks communications manager Tricia Moriarty told WND, noting that quotes about matters of faith make up only a small fraction of the printed quips.
"We cover topics such as theater, film, the environment, food and sports," Moriarty said. "The cups are not pro- or anti-religion per se."
When asked if there were any scenario that would prompt the company to remove a certain cup from its campaign, she said she could not comment on a hypothetical situation, saying only, "Certainly, we have no plans to remove any of them."
Tell Starbucks what you think of their anti-God coffee cups....
http://www.starbucks.com/customer/contact_forms.asp?nav=3f
Over priced, over-rated, and now anti-God. Guess they just don’t need my business...ever.
I’d like to see them dole out a few thought provoking, anti-Muslim cups and see how well that goes over.
Whether or not “customers” are suggesting the slogans, it is Starbucks that makes the decision to print them. I’m guessing that anything that would offend leftist sensibilities would be immediately screened and this is a way for the corporation to get a particular message out without appearing to directly take the heat for it.
Well, another company to throw on the boycott list, in addition to Ford. Be careful where you spend your money, as it is corporate dollars that fund much of the leftist activity in America today.
I do my part — I just don’t patronize Starbucks. I once had a muffin there that gave me indigestion for a week. Plus Starbucks is overpriced. Why should I pay $5.00 or whatever for coffee I can make better at home or at work for cheap?
Happy to report that I’ve been to Starbucks maybe once in the last two years. The only thing I’ve *ever* ordered from Starbucks is a “coffee of the day, large” (not “vente”, which I refuse to say).
Their coffee is good, but not $3.50 good.
Uh, they would print pro moslem terrorist cups for sure. Modern day atheists are part of the leftist movement and they are just as angry, aggressive and destructive.
Overly strong bad tasting overly priced coffee and anti GOD anti Christian to boot.
Yeah, I’m gonna give starbucks my money, NOT.
Like the former Soviet Union, France has gone too far into socialism to easily recover.
France is still the major supplier to Iran and the country is so saturated with Muslims that its previous culture has become overwhelmed.
If they are such fans of free expression, where are the Christian messages and thoughts? Surely Starbuck’s has some Christian customers who enjoy the taste of coffee and cigarette butts, which is why I don’t drink their stuff.
I go to church every Sunday for religious teaching. I go to Starbuck for coffee. Big difference.
I wonder if they would print sa cup that says “If Global warming is real how come I froze my ass off this winter?” I bet the answer would be no.
“The only thing I’ve *ever* ordered from Starbucks is a “coffee of the day, large” (not “vente”, which I refuse to say).”
I rarely buy coffee from Starbucks but whenever I step up to order one I always openly mock the names they give to their cup sizes. I’ll say “vente” after a good mock and laugh at the name.
I don't see this as an anti-Christian statement -- it just shows how incredibly stupid Stein is, and Biblically ignorant to boot. The "boring" image he paints of heaven is what less-than creative types conjure up. Heaven is, without a doubt, more than anyone human can imagine.
Just MHO, but LA Times readers should be wary of such a stupid person writing for that rag. Now that I think of it though, regular LA Times readers can't be all that bright to begin with.
I think Starbucks coffee is bitter and cheap tasting, their stores are cold feeling, and they are always playing awful music.
I think Starbucks coffee is bitter and cheap tasting, their stores are cold feeling, and they are always playing awful music.
I’m INSULTED! Let’s riot and burn Cars!..........
Here's the cup I got today:
Many people search blindly for the “meaning of life.” What they don’t seem to understand is that life does not have meaning through mere existence or acquisition or fun. The meaning of life is inherent in the connections we make to others through honor and obligation.
-- Dr. Laura Schlessinger
You are one wierd dude. I like that.
Last year I had to go into rehab to get off their Strawberry Cream Fraps.
Say it with me, “Caribou Coffee”.
Starbucks is totally overrated. It seems boring. Burnt coffee, listening to people as they Google porn from their laptops. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a comfy British pub. Maybe mustard-colored walls and Blues Traveler were enough to keep people standing in line in the 1990s, but Starbucks has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than Waffle House.
“Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help?”
“Heaven is totally overrated.”
“The cups are not pro- or anti-religion per se.”-Tricia Moriarty
this one should be accompanied by a barf alert and a headline that reads, “superior, brilliant, scientific beings at starbucks declare their brilliant, superior, scientific stance for the world to see”
That being said,
"Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."
Is a perfectly reasonable line of questioning. If a person's faith does not allow reasonable questions, how does it differ from the monstrous mania of islamofascism?
As regards:
Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell.
This doesn't differ markedly from similar musings Mark Twain penned over 100 years ago and it still rings true. If the common concept of heaven were actually factual few of us would opt for it. Read "The Bible According to Mark Twain" and you'll see his point. It is a bit veiled perhaps but it suggests that a deeper spiritual concept may be more appealing to most of us.
You misspelled Speedway. :-)
I can choose to go to any number of “non-Starbucks” coffee outlets here in SE Wisconsin. I currently favor a Citgo station that charges 25 cents when you bring in your own mug. The first cup of the day comes from home and I enjoy experimenting with a variety of locally available beans. The quarter a cup refill is at the midpoint of my daily commute. $tarbuck$- No way!
No no, the question is would they print “anti”- Muslim cups.
The answer to that is clear. It is not innate to our beings to have "the power to overcome" on our own. It's a trait that must be taught and developed, unlike destruction. Imagine the most complex project you've ever mastered. Imagine the time and effort necessary to accomplish that task. Now try to imagine how quickly that project could be destroyed. Destruction and catastrophes need no complex, creative qualities as does innovative design and purpose. Anyone can destroy; not all are blessed with the capability of invention and the reasoning to apply it.
You have hit the nail on the head. Hey Starbucks, try this one out: “Mohammed is an infidel and a murderer.” Somehow, I think this will never make it on a coffee cup.
I’d pay their crazy prices if they put the cartoon caricature of Bomb Head Allah on their cups.
But I doubt they’d do that.
Are you posting to the right thread?
"I’d like to see them dole out a few thought provoking, anti-Muslim Wicca cups and see how well that goes over."
May I expect them to print a cup with my quip that is not flattering to Islam’s basic tenets?
When I’m having a coffee meltdown and no where near home, I will bow my head in shame and walk into a Starbucks. After adding extra cream and sugar (GOOD coffee requires no sugar) it passes to give me the caffeine fix I need.
That said, as the owner of a small coffee house, while ordering a min. quantity of 50,000 pre-printed cups is out of the question, I have my “own” campaign I am about to start. Through signage, the top says ‘The Way I See It’ with a big red X over the text. Underneath, it begins, ‘The Way It Is’ in italics. . . I especially wish to address the uber-liberal SB quotes like why AIDS is so rampant in Africa (that really ticked me off - there’s no magical fairy giving AIDS to children in Africa as the cup would have you believe)or any other wacko ‘thoughts’ that are printed on their cups.
Kind of like the ‘Rush Limbaugh Response’ :)
Yeah, gotta love the fact that Christians are so evil. Makes for a good time poking fun at them and their "anti-Mohammed" religion...
/s
Hee...I wonder if they’ll put John 3:16 on a cup of their swill....hee.
***
Isa 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him!!
1Cr 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him!!
***
One of my favorite verses. Tell who ever will listen the good news!
We cannot even begin to imagine how wonderful it will be!
I went to a Starbucks once and said ‘never again’. Nothing but snooty career gals and guys in suits in a line with their briefcases and haughty faces. I love a good latte now and then and but I only frequent the places where the help is friendly and there isn’t a long line of coffee snobs.
Of course Starbuck is overrated. Perhaps the boycott should extend to United Airlines because they are proud to serve Starbucks coffee on their flights. I wish that Starbucks had the nerve to criticize Allah instead.
I buy green coffee beans and roast, grind, and brew my own coffee for a lot less $$$ than Starbucks charges. But there are those who are in the habit of stopping by every day for their coffee. It is good coffee, although more like a French roast in taste. I suspect that they overroast their beans to get a more uniform taste. It would be too easy for me to boycott because I do not go there anyway, maybe once every ten years.
A Godless nation is a doomed nation.
Anyone who would pay $8.79 for a cup of coffee and a sweet roll will go for anything.
OTOH, we haven't seen all the quotes, just the ones that angered some Christians.
Don’t confuse ‘em with facts.
I'd take Starbucks over Citgo and Hugo Chavez any day.
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