Starbucks responds

Posted on May 27, 2003 by Lessig

According to friends at the wonderful Bumperactive.com, Starbucks says it has no policy about non-media photographs in its stores. Someone should tell the stores…

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11 Responses to Starbucks responds

  1. Seth Finkelstein says:
    May 27, 2003 at 7:13 pm

    Really? A little web-searching turned up this blog entry, from MARCH 2002:

    http://www.nedbatchelder.com/blog/200203.html#e20020331T163851

    Weasly Starbucks Sunday 31 March 2002

    We were walking downtown today, and wanted a snack, so we stopped in
    at a Starbucks. Now, of course, all the tables were occupied with
    people who had clearly been there at least an hour. Don’t get me
    started on the difficulty of finding somewhere to sit at these places,
    because that’s not my point.

    As we approached the counter to order our stuff, a man stood up from a
    table of about eight people, and was going to take a picture of all
    his friends around the table. The guy behind the counter called out,
    “Sir, I’m sorry, but there’s no taking pictures here.”

    “What?”

    “It’s company policy, you can’t take pictures in here.”

    The customer looked bewildered, incredulous, and annoyed and didn’t
    take the picture. I asked the guy behind the counter why there’s no
    pictures allowed. He said, “The company doesn’t want pictures to end
    up in magazines, so all pictures have to go through corporate
    communications.”

    How dumb is this? Here’s a customer clearly having a good time in the
    store, and wants to take a picture of his friends. He’s got a typical
    point-and-shoot camera for taking snapshots. Because Starbucks is
    worried about the less-than-microscopic chance that this picture will
    end up in a magazine and somehow make Starbucks look bad (how,
    exactly?), they’ve squashed these peoples’ good time, and made
    themselves look like the corporate weasels they are in front of at
    least twenty customers. Nice going.

    Why do big corporations have to act like such soulless control freaks,
    even when it is in their own worst interest?

  2. Brenda says:
    May 27, 2003 at 9:22 pm

    I also got kicked out of Starbucks for trying to make a little mini movie of myself (just happened to be in Starbucks). I did however keep the footage and I secretly made a cool little imovie… someday when I have some decent server space I’ll post it.

  3. Damon 2.0 says:
    May 28, 2003 at 7:22 pm

    There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Especially in a world of spin.

  4. Elin says:
    May 29, 2003 at 7:27 am

    Every Starbucks is a little different, thank God:-) The one near my home has a wonderful atmosphere and would never ever confuse a happy customer with the media mafia.

  5. Elin says:
    May 29, 2003 at 7:27 am

    Every Starbucks is a little different, thank God:-) The one near my home has a wonderful atmosphere and would never ever confuse a happy customer with the media mafia.

  6. John (reply to Elin) says:
    May 30, 2003 at 9:47 am

    Just go and try, they can’t be that different on this fact

  7. Elin says:
    June 1, 2003 at 9:24 pm

    Ok – I will take you up on the challenge! Will post a picture as proof – maybe as soon as tomorrow,
    E.

  8. ex-Employee says:
    June 30, 2003 at 6:42 pm

    I can say it is true with first hand knowledge. It is not a compnay policy. It is misinformed or stupid mangers and employees. If you have an issue with a store mistreating you call the customer service number 800-782-7282. Complaint to that store. They may get “written up”.

  9. Coffeechick says:
    July 14, 2003 at 11:49 am

    I work for Starbucks, and I assure you, that there is no “company policy” against taking pictures. If you come in with a film crew or want to shoot your student film, we will direct you to the media department for permission. If you are having a good time and want to make a Kodak moment, then by all means go for it, as long as no other customers are being disturbed. If an employee gets out of control, ask for their district managers number and report them. Starbucks is a large company. Don’t judge us all by the actions of a few.

  10. Rebes says:
    February 23, 2004 at 12:55 pm

    I am wondering where the two employees of Starbucks got there information because the Resorce Manual I trained from said that we were not to permit picture taking inside the store. Now, we all use the same manuals so I am wondering if your they have a more narrow meaning than they are worded, but I have politely asked people not to take pictures in all the stores I have worked in and never had a problem- but I never took their cameras or anything after they took one. A lot of it is the way the customer is approached and I don’t see why it should be a big deal.

  11. Current Employee says:
    June 3, 2004 at 2:40 am

    The picture taking issue really has to do with trademarks and using the Starbucks logo with out the permission of the owner. If someone takes a picture in my store, I asked them politly to please not take any more pictures in the store. It is true that one must obtain any permission through the proper channels if they want a picture. Anyways, the people are on private property and they have to listen to the people who work there or they could leave if they do not like it. Rules are rules. Deal with it.

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