Living in major metropolitan city, it’s hard to celebrate Earth Day: we don’t have a lot of, you know, earth. Like most urban areas, we’ve replaced all of our trees with Starbucks franchises.
While some people lament the ‘bucksification of America, I’ve never been one of them. I typically frequent privately owned cafes, but I don’t resent Starbucks’ success. They offer good benefits to employees, they are the single largest buyer of Fair Trade Certified coffee in North America, and they are the fourth greenest company in the U.S.
Plus, they’re giving me free coffee.
Going along with their green creed, Starbucks is celebrating Earth Day by giving away a free cup of coffee to everyone who brings in a reusable mug. Now, where would I ever find a reusable mug?
I can’t think of a better advertisement for the power of promotional products. Starbucks, and many local coffee shops, gives a discount when people bring in reusable mugs, already creating an incentive for people to keep their mugs and tumblers. For a company the size of Starbucks to create a highly visible promotion around a promotional product not only puts the item in the spotlight, but in this case also highlights one of its many benefits (that is, sustainability). It’s a great promotion for the company, for the product, for distributors and for coffee addicts across the country.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have five mugs on my desk and three Starbucks within a one mile radius. I don’t plan on sleeping this weekend.
