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Starbucks Doesn’t Like ‘Laissez Faire’
By JLP | April 7, 2008
From today’s Wall Street Journal:
Laissez-faire. It’s a policy that made Starbucks vastly successful. But don’t try to put that phrase on a customized Starbucks Card.
The cards are supposed be personalized to reflect customers’ tastes and uniqueness. They are available in a range of colors, often given as gifts and used by regular customers who prefer to prepay for their java.
But when my friend Roger Ream, president of the Fund for American Studies, received a Starbucks gift card for Christmas, he found there was a limit to how personalized a card could be. His card required him to customize it on the company’s Web site. So he went to the site and requested that the phrase “Laissez Faire” be printed on his card. A few days later he was informed that the company couldn’t issue such a card because the wording violated company policy.
You can read the rest of the piece here (free).
For those unfamiliar with the term ‘Laissez-Faire’ is an economic doctrine that opposes government interference in business. I guess Starbucks must find it offensive.
What’s funny is that the guy sent back through a request for the phrase ‘People Not Profits’ and Starbucks approved it! LOL!
Topics: Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »
April 8th, 2008 at 2:53 am
I assume that bcause each phrase is checked individually then a different person checked both of these phrases. Perhaps the person who checked the ‘People not Profits’ was half asleep (!) or they had a personal liking for this phrase. It could just be that they didn’t understand what it meant so didn’t let it go through in case it was offensive.
April 9th, 2008 at 6:46 am
I don’t think you were paying attention to the article. Two different people at two different times checked each of those phrases (Laissez Faire & People not Profits). I doubt that the request would get sent to the same person each time. The article suggests a computer vets each statement, which I suspect is the case. It would at least explain the consistency.