Starbucks is a Cult.

so starbucks released a new viral bear cup and my first thought wasnt even "thats cool i guess." it was "if people go to the starbucks in the store i work at and do the same shit they did the last two times there was a trendy, overpriced cup, i will literally tell my boss to put 911 on speed dial." me and some friends were talking about it and one of them asked "if it just released how is it so viral??" to which i responded by pointing out the very simple truth.

starbucks is the closest thing we have to a non-religious cult.

before you run to the comments about how "its a popular chain, of course the new things get a lot of hype," that's not the only example there is. of course starbucks has been a popular chain for years, but in recent years it's taken an entirely new level. ten years ago, starbucks was a spot you visited in the morning or afternoon to get a drink and maybe do some work. theres multiple starbucks locations where i live and i never see anyone actually staying in them anymore. they get their drink of choice and then leave. they still buy drinks but they dont stick around and stay in the store, they just up and leave.

another reason i see starbucks to be a cult is the fact that their prices have literally doubled in the past ten years and nobody seems to care. sure, if youre USAmerican you could chalk it up to the tariffs and shit, but they're pricy in other regions too. id i wanted to get a drink at starbucks ten years ago it was like $5.75, its ELEVEN FUCKING DOLLARS now!!! and itd make sense if starbucks was a small independent store needing to pay to get the coffee they use, but they DEFINITELY arent. they literally own farmland in colombia where they grow the coffee they use, and their drinks are still ELEVEN FUCKING DOLLARS. every other local spot where i live keeps the prices cheap except starbucks and they  get WAY less attention, and i feel insane for being like the only person who talks about this, because people STILL go to starbucks KNOWING that??

the quality isnt even WORTH that price either. if im gonna get a drink that's worth eleven bucks it better taste like the nectar of the gods themselves, so WHY do they ALWAYS taste mediocre at best?! it's not even a "you built the sandwich" thing like subway either. my usual orders at starbucks before i stopped going (i havent for like almost three years) were a chai or matcha latte. i have made better of both at home with my own two hands, so trust me when i say it's definitely not a user issue. i could understand why people choose to go there at such egregious pricing if the quality were better, but it simply isnt. the worst part?? this company can shove put whatever new slop they want and the customers will always make it sell out no matter what. they sold coffees with olive oil in them and people were still thrilled about it. most protein-based drinks are bound to have the texture of watery cream of wheat, and a handful of consumers have reported as such for those starbucks protein lattes... so WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP BUYING THEM?! im an at-home tea type of person, and i save far more money on buying my ingredients and materials than going to this shop everyday. a good three week's worth of matcha costs the same as ONE DRINK.

and then there's the merchandise... where do i even start? the cups themselves are like 50usd, and thats just the ones that arent causing on-grounds fighting. every year starbucks releases some "limited edition" junk, and EVERY TIME theres full-grown adults kicking, punching, and biting each other over them. i can understand if youre like 12-16 because youre a child who doesn't know any better, but a GROWN ADULT?? you know better!! first it was the pink stanleys in 2024 (and i could go on a LONG rant about stanleys...), then it was the bear cups last christmas, and now the bear cups are back in some little pink hats. there was bloodshed over the first two, and im confident there will be over the third. 

wanna know the craziest part? THIS INFORMATION IS KNOWN AMONGST THE GENERAL PUBLIC. and starbucks STILL has this loyal-ass cult following of people who who go to their stores, buy whatever poor-quality drink is "viral" that week (it probably isnt, they just called it viral in an advertisement), and maybe even record it in their car to get whatever likes and clicks they need for their influencer paycheck for the week. that pink bear cup has been a thing for two DAYS and it's already "viral," because all they have to do to sell a product is to claim it's trending, and it'll FLY off the shelves.

in conclusion, starbucks, and their large number of blind consumers, are the closes thing to a non-religious cult ive EVER seen. im not even talking about people who maybe get themselves a nice treat from starbucks every now and then. im talking about the people who SWEAR by it, who buy every new drink they see on a poster, who vlog about their "viral" lattes, and are willing to break skin over an overpriced cup that probably has uranium in it (you think i forgot about the lead in those pink stanleys...?). THEY show a lot of cult like behavior.

and hey, all of this was WITHOUT mentioning the actual controversies involving the company... just a note :)