I just sat down in this cozy little independent coffee shop in my current city of residence (San Francisco) to write a little bit about Starbucks…and maybe a little about local versus corporate economies as well. I’ve actually been meaning to turn my attention to these guys for a while, ever since I noticed their new “fair trade” iconography gracing the bus stops of my fair city some months ago. You may have seen this, it’s large-scale representations of a very organic, very hand-knit looking light brown sack, which is, of course, how all fair trade coffee gets transported to our caffeine-starved shores. Tongue out of cheek, though, seriously, I like the campaign and the way Starbucks seems to be constantly evolving their brand. Continue reading →

Since we’ve entered the brave new world of Web 2.0 and social media technology, companies have been falling all over themselves in a race to use these tools to further their interests. It’s only natural. Blogs and social networks happen to be where their potential customers are or, at the very least, where companies perceive those customers to be. Continue reading →