"Starbucks News Watch"

Starbucks Sets Pace for Holiday Marketing Creativity
STARBUCKS CORP. (SBUX) PAID SOME car-service drivers this holiday season to put specially made cups - that look like Starbucks paper cups but are magnetic - on the roofs of their cars. When a passerby would warn the driver of the cup on the roof before the car pulled away, the driver would hand the good Samaritan a $5 Starbucks gift card as a reward and wish them a happy holiday. Starbucks used the gimmick in Seattle, Chicago, New York and San Francisco. "The responses were hilarious," said Starbucks spokeswoman Carole Pucik. Drivers reported people wildly gesturing to indicate the cup on the roof and yelling everything from, "Dude, there's something on your roof!" to two children telling their father: "Look, that lady left her coffee on her car, you have to do something!" Among Starbucks's other "surprise and delight" tactics, as the company calls them, was to buy out select movie theaters in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. When moviegoers would try to buy a ticket, they were told that it was free, compliments of Starbucks. Starbucks also launched a microsite, the Red Cup (www.theredcup.com), with holiday activities, films and animation.