Walking back to my car in Mequon from Cedarburg Sunday, I did a lot of thinking about Starbucks after buying a coffee there. Further to my last post, I have long held that Starbucks is one of the top five or so female-targeted brands on the US market, with Aveda and Lululemon being on top. The brand is, it seems, carefully maintained to be female-forward without being angry or political. I believe that this is evident not so much in what is present as what is curated out. Arguably, areas of obvious appeal to what are known in today's parlance as cishet males are kept out: sports, screens, physical fitness, Pitbull, and food beyond the dainty, almost stereotypically female-appealing items.
it's been a realization of acceptance and equanimity towards Starbucks. There are other consumer brands that would enable me to position myself as the kind of consumer and (superficially) as the person I aspire to be: to succintly convey today's "Mike vibe" on Instagram, for example, I would be more likely to post a picture of a burger or steak sandwich with a craft beer. That would convey the ideal sense of both venue and patron, specifically me. "Tolerant cishet white male, votes Democrat and probably watches Colbert." Bingo! What I wouldn't pay to broadcast that!
