Have you ever wondered why it's just so hard for a Starbucks barista to spell your name correctly? We completely understand that it's loud in the line, and especially when there is music blaring, it's all but impossible to hear sometimes. However, we do have to wonder just why However, we do have to wonder just why Starbucks employees always misspell the names of Starbucks customers?
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The Reason Why Starbucks Spells Your Name Wrong
We weren't the only ones, and as it turns out, this Youtube video was wondering the exact same thing and decided to have a little experiment. The conspiracy theory is that the coffee chain uses misspelled names as a marketing ploy.
What the video suggests is that by misspelling customers' names, they're inciting anger, silliness, or whatever, but they're Instagramming those cups. Those cups are making their way to social media with captions like "Smh" or "How can Molly be Mommy?!" And it's free advertising for Starbucks via the coffee cup!
How many times have you scrolled down a feed, seen a Starbucks cup Instagrammed, and start thinking about how delicious a mocha or pumpkin spice latte would taste right about now? Starbucks has rigged the system in their favor and it works.
Now, this could all be speculation, especially because those of us who've had fast-paced customer service jobs know that the line needs to move quickly while trying to listen over the coffee grinders so no one actually cares how the name is spelled, as long as it sounds different from the two before them and the two after them so drinks aren't confused. Starbucks coffee serves thousands of people every day, writing common names and uncommon names on cups all day long. Figuring out the correct spelling of names of customers is time-consuming, so rather than ask the spelling of your name, Baristas quickly add a name and pass it down.
But by looking at these examples of the 16,000 Instagram photos under the hashtag, #wrongname, it's clear that if this is Starbucks' big marketing plan, it's working incredibly well. People even make up fake names as a fun tradition when picking up their Starbucks.
So what do you think? Is Starbucks smartly rigging the system or is it all just happenstance? Heck, even this article is free publicity for Starbucks!
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