Oh Bob! Thanks for pointing me to this website containing every episode of perhaps the most significant Canadian television series ever produced. That’s right: Hinterland Who’s Who.
In the 1960s and 1970s there were two major changes in Canadian society. First, more and more of the country was becoming urbanized and fewer people had experiences with the creatures of the wilderness. This was resulting in Canadians losing touch with the wildlife that was supposed to be one of our defining features.
THe other major trend was the spread of television. As Canada is a very very big country, we pioneered satellite TV and by the 1970s with the launch of the ANIK satellites, we became very more and more electronically connected to one another.
These two trends prompted the Canadian Wildlife Service to produce a series of 40 one minute vignettes about different wildlife species of our hinterlands. With a warbling Erik Satie-like solo flute theme, sparse text delivered with a detached smokey-voiced commentary and amazingly unspectacular footage (60 seconds of a chipmunk eating seeds), the series became a fixture of Canadian television during my childhood. It was often imitated and mocked (notably by CBC Radio’s comic duo Double Exposure who ran “Political Who’s Who” featuring the “Bob Rae” of southern Ontario), but always lovingly.
And now I can see these pieces again. It take me right back to being 5 years old again, watching Mr. Dressup and seeing the creatures of our huge country doing everyday things, piped straight into the rec room.
Now I know the blogosphere is supposed to be powerful, but what do we make of this? One day after I post my letter to Starbucks on this weblog I get another letter from “Michael,” the bot that runs the “Customer Relations” email service at Starbucks (I’d post a link to that critical department of the company, but they don’t have a website):
Dear Mr. Corrigan:
Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company. Here is the latest news for your weblog.
Starbucks Coffee Company and Haida Bucks Caf� have recently resolved their trademark dispute. Whenever trademark confusion arises, it is always Starbucks preference and desire to resolve disputes of this nature informally and amicably, rather than in a public forum.
In response to a letter sent by Starbucks in March 2003, Haida Bucks Caf� has made several important changes to its name and logo that address many of Starbucks initial infringement concerns.
Starbucks believes that these changes are a satisfactory compromise and is pleased that this matter could be resolved without legal action.
If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us at info@starbucks.com, or call (800) 23-LATTE to speak to a customer relations representative.
Again, thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.
Sincerely,
Michael
Customer Relations
Starbucks Coffee Company
There were ten referrals in my log from Starbucks.com over the past two days. And one from NIPR.mil. I still don’t know what that means.
Anyway, my inquiry into the marketing genius of Starbucks (how a global coporation loses customers with heavy handed legal threats) has not convinced me that my latte dollars should be spent there. So I’ll go in search of other sources of “superpremium” coffee products and services. Starting with my very own Bowen Island based coffee house, The Snug.
Happy Canada Day
I have been supporting HaidaBucks in Masset BC. They are being threatened with legal action by Starbucks. I wrote to Starbucks telling them that I thought they should lay off. Michael, from Customer Relations, wrote me back. Here is my reply to his note, with some html added:
Dear Michael:
Okay…replying to a form letter may be the height of folly, but I’ll be sure to post this correspondence on my weblog at https://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot so it doesn’t seem like I’m completely tilting at windmills…
> Dear Mr. Corrigan:
>
> Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.
Thank you for replying.
> Starbucks Coffee Company recently learned from a third party that
> HaidaBucks Coffee is operating in Masset, B.C. After an investigation of
> the situation, including a review of the HaidaBucks Coffee logo, Starbucks
> determined that the name and logo are confusing variations of the
> Starbucks name and logo.
So you are telling me that your name, which was ripped off from a character in Moby Dick, can be confused with the name HaidaBucks? That your logo, a mermaid doing the splits, resembles a stylized Haida salmon? That’s what you appear to be telling me anyway. Assuming that your customers are stupid is not good customer relations.
Pssst. Everybody knows that HaidaBucks is not Starbucks…!
‘
Starbucks logo is on the left, HaidaBucks logo on the right, in case you are easily confused.
> Whenever trademark confusion arises, it is always Starbucks preference and
> desire to resolve disputes of this nature informally and amicably, rather
> than in a public forum. However, if we are unable to resolve a matter
> through alternate means, we will take legal steps to protect the value of
> our trademark, and protect the public from confusion. We do hope to
> resolve this without litigation.
The “value of your trademark” is declining rather rapidly, but not through the actions of HaidaBucks. For example, your trademark was worth maybe $300 to me last year. This year it will be worth $0. That’s because you are getting a little carried away in my books, so my latte dollars will magically begin appearing in other people’s pockets. Twenty of them already went to purchasing a nice t-shirt from HaidaBucks.
> On March 4, 2003, Starbucks sent a letter to HaidaBucks Coffee requesting
> that it stop using this confusing variation of the Starbucks name,
> trademark and logo. The law does not afford Starbucks the luxury of
> selectively enforcing our trademark rights. As a result, we cannot
> discriminate as to when we should or should not enforce these rights.
> Whether the other party is large or small, trademark law requires that we
> take action to prevent the use of names that disparage, imitate or
> otherwise trade on our name and reputation.
Can you please explain to me why the law does not afford you the luxury of selectively enforcing your trademark rights? It seems to me that you are choosing to press legal action against HaidaBucks. CHOOSING. Starbucks is making a choice to sue a small business nestled in an archipelago hundreds of miles from your nearest outlet. Confused customers would need to take a three hour ferry ride and an eight hour drive from Masset to Prince George to get to your nearest outlet. If they are in Masset rather than Prince George, getting confused by the apparent similarities between HaidaBucks and Starbucks would probably be the least of their worries.
You are not losing any money to HaidaBucks. And thanks to your actions, HaidaBucks is selling dozens of t-shirts and raising all kinds of money. No one is boycotting them. No one is in your court. What does this situation say to you?
> Through the substantial effort and investment of Starbucks partners
> (employees) and shareholders, the Starbucks name and trademarks have
> become internationally recognized and associated with its superpremium
> products and services. Any trademark owner that has worked hard to
> develop its reputation understands both the legal and practical
> implications of protecting it. If we do not act, we jeopardize our
> rights, which is not fair to our partners, customers or shareholders.
You mean to tell me that if your don’t sue HaidaBucks, you aren’t treating your customers fairly? Draw me a picture, please. I just don’t understand how suing a small business which was no threat to you is somehow doing your customers a favour.
And please…enough with the “superpremium” bit. Your coffee products are no better than 20 or 30 other places in Vancouver. Certainly on my little island here there are three or four places that brew a better latte. What is “superpremium” is your hype, which I fear is blinding you to the real world. Customer relations is about making friends with your customers. The actions of your legal department are costing you customers.
Time to get on the Cluetrain!
> Sincerely,
>
> Michael
> Customer Relations
> Starbucks Coffee Company
Sincerely,
Chris Corrigan
Bowen Island, BC.
Search long and hard, and you won’t find “customer relations” on the Starbucks website. Sure there is “investor relations” and even a FAQ that mostly says what kinds of things Starbucks won’t do, such as grant interviews for school reports, or give tours of its facilities or accept new business ideas from the public. But there is no customer relations page.
However a Google query on “Starbucks sucks” results in 18,500 pages of useful information…
Yesterday I was walking with my two year old son. We were coming home from the coffee shop where we had been drinking coffee (me) and apple juice (him). A propos of nothing he looked up at me and said:
“Is that your tea cup shirt?” I was wearing a t-shirt with a South African cricket logo on it.
“Uh, no,” I said.
“Is it your water shirt?”
“No.”
He looked perplexed.
“Is it a coffee shirt?”
“No.”
Then I got it.
“Ah Finn,” I said. “It’s a t-shirt, not a tea shirt.”
“Oh right,” he said. ” A t-shirt.”
But I think he meant “tea shirt” anyway. I’m sure there will be a future installment to this story somewhere down the road.