I'll be retiring early today.
Just let me get a cup of coffee after going out to dinner:
"Starbucks holiday cups draw Web ire" by Sydney Ember New York Times November 10, 2015
NEW YORK — Starbucks annual red holiday cup became fodder stirred a bit of noise on social media.
Perhaps that was part of the company’s intent to generate a little buzz, however negative and extreme some of the instant reviews sounded.
“Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus,” Joshua Feuerstein, who described himself as an evangelist, Internet, and social media personality, wrote on his Facebook page Thursday.
Anybody see something strange there? See jwho is stirring up trouble?
His post was cited repeatedly on all sides of the cup issue including by those who found his objections overly frothy.
One person posted on Twitter.
That is about right.
Still, the protests were so loud that Starbucks sought on Sunday to clarify its decision to remove the holiday symbols.
This is not the first time Starbucks has drawn attention with its cups. In March, the coffee company introduced an initiative meant to stimulate conversations about race relations that instead raised intense criticism.
Of course, any time a company changes its packaging, it is bound to attract some grumblings. When Tropicana, for instance, changed the design on cartons for its Pure Premium orange juice in 2009, consumers were outraged.
The brand quickly backpedaled, removing the new symbol — a glass of orange juice — and replacing it with the longtime orange-with-a-straw logo....
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Did you see all the work they put into it?
Related:
"Starbucks is pushing back against suggestions stoked by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump that this year’s minimalist design for its holiday cups is a slap at Christmas. Responding to questions about the cups, the Seattle-based coffee purveyor on Tuesday touted its ‘‘exclusive Christmas Blend Vintage 2015’’ — one of several Christmas-themed products available in its stores. Some religious conservatives have expressed anger over the coffee company’s holiday season cups, which this year are a minimalist all-red design with no images aside from the company’s green and white logo. Previous years’ cups have featured snowflakes and winter scenes as well as occasional Christmas ornaments. Trump piled on Monday when he suggested boycotting the company at a rally in Springfield, Ill."
As long as he doesn't suggest a boycott of Israel like Obama.
"The media storm brewing over the decision by Starbucks to create a plain red holiday coffee cup devoid of Christmas imagery may drive some customers into the warm pink-and-orange glow of Dunkin’ Donuts. Faith Driven Consumer, a Raleigh, N.C.-based group dedicated to creating a “world where inclusion is extended with parity to people of faith,” is encouraging customers to “buycott” locations of the Canton-based coffee franchise because their cups have the word “joy” and an image of a stylized wreath on them. Both coffee franchises are “free to design their cups and express their values as they see fit,” Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Consumer, said Wednesday in a statement. “By creating cups that specifically message the joy of the Christmas season — in sharp constrast to Starbucks’ ‘blank canvas’ — Dunkin’ Donuts has specifically welcomed faith-driven consumers, and all Americans who love Christmas.” Starbucks’s new holiday cups — colored a featureless, warm red around its green logo, instead of its usual white — sparked anger from some Christian groups that protested that the cup didn’t include any explicit acknowledgement of Christmas. The controversy surrounding the cups grew even louder Monday when Donald Trump suggested people boycott the chain. Dunkin’ said it has rolled out similar cups for many years during the holiday season."
I'm boycotting Dunkin' on faith.
Besides I'd rather have a beer anyway:
"The world’s two biggest beer makers will join forces to create a company that produces almost a third of the world’s beer. But in the United States, the deal will not bring arch rivals Budweiser and Miller under the same roof."
(Blog editor spits out sip. It's warm!)
Molson Coors nears deal for full control of MillerCoors
Tastes better.
Time for bed:
"Airbnb softens tone, vows to work with cities" by Mike Isaac New York Times November 11, 2015
SAN FRANCISCO — A week ago, Airbnb fired off a warning shot to cities that it would fight back if municipal officials proposed rules that might curtail its home-sharing service.
“There is going to be more people doing home-sharing tomorrow than there are today; there is going to be more the day after that,” Chris Lehane, Airbnb’s head of global policy and public affairs, said at the time to underline how the company is unstoppable. “This is now a movement.”
Time to regulate!
This week, Airbnb dialed back its rhetoric.
A phone call at this hour?
The startup, which is based in San Francisco, on Wednesday introduced a lengthy treatise pledging a renewed spirit of cooperation with local governments. Called the Airbnb Community Compact, the document outlines several ways the popular company plans to work with municipalities, including sharing anonymized data on the hosts and guests who use the service.
The issue of illegal operators of large blocks of rooms was front and center last year in New York City. Last May, after a protracted battle in court, Airbnb agreed to hand over anonymized data on the company’s hosts in the city to Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York state attorney general. The goal, Schneiderman said at the time, was to hunt down so-called illegal hotels using the service....
And now the jerk has killed fantasy sports!
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What is with all the racket next door?
NDU:
I would have stayed in a hotel, except....
Hospitality industry pushing back against FCC over Wi-Fi hot spots
