• Hi, I’m Brad Abare

  I'm a make-it-happen guy working with big idea people. I design teams and orchestrate strategy so that great ideas I believe in get done.
  
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Every once in a while, Jamaica gets a hankering for finding and using coupons. This past week was no exception when she came upon quite the prize: Starbucks coupons! And more than just one, there were several winners. “Free beverage with the purchase of another.” “Free drink (any kind, any size) with purchase of a pastry.” “Free drink of your choice.” We thought the end of the world had to be close because Starbucks has coupons!

Not so fast.

These coupons were for a specific location located inside a grocery store. And because grocery store locations are not corporate owned (they call them licensed stores), the marketing and promotion is left to the owner of the licensed store.

Okay, we can live with this. Starbucks is Starbucks, right?

The coupon for buy a beverage/ get a beverage expired last night. So we jumped in the convertible, put the top down, and rode off into the sunset seeking to enjoy a nice little coffee talk together (while saving money at the same time).

We get to the store and there to greet us was the familiar black chalkboard, although this one appeared a little bigger than what I am used to in the normal stores. In huge hot pink chalk was the glaring message:

WE ARE OUT OF ALL FRAPPUCCINOS AND LEMONADE DRINKS.

There was another smaller chalkboard above it:

TO OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS: THE COUPON FOR BUY ONE, GET ONE BEVERAGE FREE MUST BE FOR THE SAME DRINK.

Starbucks ruined a perfect date night with my wife.

They were out of the drink I wanted. The coupon lied. We turned around and went home.

Perhaps Starbucks should re-think their licensing program and bring a little quality control to the brand they have so brilliantly built.

Note:
I wrote an entry for ChurchMarketingSucks.com using much of this same content, just tweaked a bit for the audience. You can check it out here.

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