Recently, whenever I go to Starbucks, I see these tall reusable plastic cups for sale that look exactly like the the usual plastic cups (the ones people presumably feel guilty about) that cold drinks come in. Except they are bigger, fatter, reusable, and for sale. This product seems inane because the eco-friendliness is in no way conspicuous (we've come across this before) and, furthermore, you're still drinking out of and using plastic. Can someone explain?
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Jennifer Jacquet is a postdoctoral research fellow working with Dr. Daniel Pauly and the Sea Around Us Project at the UBC Fisheries Centre. As a kid, she read 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth and would come to discover that while those 50 things were indeed simple, saving the Earth was not.
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« Using Reputation to Save the Oceans | Main | A Moving Box for My Face? »
I Understand This Cup Not at All
Category: Consumed • Psychology of Conservation
Posted on: November 23, 2009 7:39 AM, by Jennifer L. Jacquet
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Comments
I think that part of the problem is that people have come to associate "doing something good" with "spending (or giving away) money" and now they've simply become convinced of the inverse-- that spending money on things that are reusable must be a Good Thing.
Posted by: knwd | November 23, 2009 9:08 AM
You're missing the point. It's not just a plastic cup, it's a plastic cup that has the STARBUCKS logo on it! How can you not want to spend all your money on something that cool?
Posted by: Romeo Vitelli | November 23, 2009 10:56 AM
I don't know. I'm pretty well convinced conspicuous consumerism Are there other moral systems out there?!
Posted by: becca | November 23, 2009 1:25 PM
Personally, I simply cannot wait until S.B. starts selling undergarments with their "logo" imprinted upon them. [ Just kidding.... ].
Posted by: Chris Martell | November 23, 2009 2:29 PM
The "Tribe" marketing industry, often seems to defy reason and logic, but in fact, selling stuff with this sort of methodology is very far from being illogical. Some extremely intelligent psychologists have not studied human behavior primarily for the intent of making the human experience a more uplifting experience. I am sure happy as hell that Jung, did not have the hots for selling cars, or politicians...
Posted by: Chris Martell | November 23, 2009 3:44 PM
Its because conventional travel mugs SUCK! You can'y see what you're drinking, they smell like stale coffee forvever after the first use, they are extremely awkward to drink out of - meanwhile the throw away plastic cups are so much more pleasing to drink from - maybe thats why?
Posted by: jim | November 23, 2009 5:50 PM
For one, I would like to welcome our Starbucks Cup Overlords
Posted by: Christopher Guerra | November 23, 2009 6:22 PM
I am still using a 32oz plastic cup I got maybe 20 years ago. I don't know where I got it because no trace of its logo has survived. I had several, and this is the last one. Eventually I'll have to go out and buy another 32oz soft drink.
Posted by: Jim Thomerson | November 24, 2009 4:50 PM
This is why:
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2009/05/11/reusable-cold-cups-are-back-and-thanks-to-you-bigger.aspx
The cup is standardized to the Starbucks Venti and Grande sizes.
Posted by: jim | November 25, 2009 11:47 AM
Haha, I totally don't get these cups either. I think Jim is right though, they're standardized to Starbuck's sizes, keeping people coming back to the same place. Gotta love the interesting marketing ploys of big name corporations.
Posted by: Sustainable Living | November 30, 2009 1:20 AM
Arachnologist and diplopodologist Dr Jason E Bond at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, is most recently well-known for naming a spider (Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi) after Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Neil Young. Kristin Day of The Daily Reflector.
Posted by: sikiş | December 5, 2009 12:22 PM
I have two new 32-oz plastic cups from "free" tea at a barbecue place. They weigh about half what my 20-year old cup weighs. The trend in container research is toward making containers using less material and therefore costing less.
Posted by: Jim Thomerson | December 8, 2009 12:26 PM