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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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.
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?
I don't know. I'm pretty well convinced conspicuous consumerism < inconspicuous consumerism < conspicuous non-consumerism < inconspicuous non-consumerism.
Are there other moral systems out there?!
Personally, I simply cannot wait until S.B. starts selling undergarments with their "logo" imprinted upon them. [ Just kidding.... ].
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...
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?
For one, I would like to welcome our Starbucks Cup Overlords
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.
This is why:
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2009/05/11/reusable-c…
The cup is standardized to the Starbucks Venti and Grande sizes.
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.
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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.