Friday, May 16, 2008

Is that Naughtiness with your Coffee?

starbucks (from StarTribune)

A far right Christian group called "The Resistance" based in San Diego find the Starbucks mermaid  to naughty.

The Resistance says the new image "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. "Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks."

The group, which claims more than 3,000 members nationwide and has found a place on the fringe advancing various conspiracy theories, is calling for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.

The  new-old retro logo will continue to run on Starbucks cups for "several more weeks," and will live on as the logo for their Pike Place bags of coffee.  So, it is not going away any time soon regardless of the complaints.

The explanation from the company for the logo is explained in the company bio book "Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time," written by Starbucks founder Howard Schultz:

"[Creative partner Terry Heckler] poured [sic] over old marine books until he came up with a logo based on an old 16 Century Norse woodcut: a two-tailed mermaid, or siren, encircled by the store's original name, Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice. That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself."

Is anyone else wondering why these religious right groups seem to find pornography everywhere?  Or should I be more concerned about a Starbucks bio called "Pour Your Heart into it?"

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