March 31, 2012

Beetlejuice

I imagine customers might be bothered if I tossed a beetle in the blender with their drink.

The story provides all the facts, and no opinion, which is why I chose it for the link. You see, I have a rather hard time mustering much in the way of anger over this topic. Truthfully, I have a hard time mustering much of an opinion at all.

The uproar seems to come, mostly, from two camps: Those who think it's just nasty, and those who are vegan.

To the those who think it's gross: Well, maybe it is. But it's certainly common. And if you knew everything you were consuming, every time you sipped a fast food concoction... well, a bug might not be the nastiest thing.

To the vegans: Don't drink it. You're not going to miss much, I promise. If you had it in the past, don't beat yourself up over it. These things happen, and you're doing the best you can.

This is not to say that I wholly agree with Starbucks' logic here. While moving away from artificial ingredients is fine as a general practice, this is still a giant sugar bomb. It is as far removed from strawberries as Coca Cola is from kola nut. And really, are we that concerned over a little red food coloring? Some think it causes ADD, but again, I'd posit that it's the sugar in processed foods that is the more likely culprit. The research, to this point, agrees.

But this is not a story about health, so much as it is consumer power. If sales take a big enough hit, Starbucks may make a change, or remove the drink altogether. So while this is something of a non-story, it has the chance to grow in to an interesting case study.

7 comments:

  1. I saw this on the news with the tagline - "Some vegans outraged". I was on the treadmill and almost laughed loud enough that the people lifting weights heard me. Totally absurd.

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    1. Yeah. I should say that I haven't heard any actual vegans who seem to mind, just reports that "many" do. I'm there are a select few out there, as there are certain folks who will conjure up "rage" out of the flimsiest of premises. But I agree, absurd is a good word for this whole thing.

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  2. Tremendous source of protein, works for me.

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  3. I would not be bothered by eating a beetle. This is a staple food source in some cultures. However, I would like it to be a non-poisonous beetle that would not make me sick.

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  4. Difficult situation, what we really need is some nice traditional coffee and tea!

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  5. It seems futile to imagine that any of us could sway the decisions of such a large corporate powerhouse!

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  6. Exactly, these drinks are always packaged as healthy when they're absolutely full of sugar! You're right, this is a very interesting case study, thanks for introducing it to us!

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