Saturday, May 31, 2008

Scratching my head here, Boss

OK, so I guess I'm the last person to see this, which tells you how little I've been online and paying attention. So Starbucks coffee did a logo makeover, and people are howling about how it looks like a woman with her legs spread.

Um, you do know why Starbucks is NAMED Starbucks, right? Anyone? Anyone?

Starbucks gets it's name from Captain Ahab's first mate in "Moby Dick".

The logo is an image of Melusine but is incorrectly described by Starbucks as "twin-tailed siren" (the siren of Greek mythology).[37] The logo has been significantly streamlined over the years. In the first version, which gave the impression of an authentic 15th century European woodcut, the Starbucks siren was topless and had a fully-visible double fish tail. The image also had a rough visual texture. In the second version, her breasts were covered by her flowing hair, but her navel was still visible, and the fish tail was cropped slightly. In the current version, her navel and breasts are not visible at all, and only vestiges remain of the fish tails. The original "woodcut" logo can still be seen on the Starbucks store in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and on both the House Blend and Decaf House Blend packaging.
Gosh, a store named after a fictional sailor, with a historical nautical symbol as a logo? WHO WOULDA THUNK IT?

Granted, given how few people have even read "Moby Dick", I'm not surprised at their ignorance. But would it be too much to ask for folks to actually ASK WHAT THE HELL IT IS before they get all upset about it?

I don't even like Starbucks. I think their beans are roasted until they're bitter and burnt, and I avoid the stores entirely. But holy cow, people, it's not that big a deal! "Slutbucks". Sheesh. Talk about getting your panties into a wad over absolutely nothing.

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