We have an interesting controversy brewing on our site with a lively dialog regarding Clear Channel removing a billboard advertisement we had placed. We are interested in your opinion if you can find the time to visit: www.msco.com/blog/mark-stevens-vs-warren-buffet
Thanks,
Chris Kieff, Editor Unconventional Thinking

"As my dad would say: notice the look of disbelief in my eyes."

Effectively understated and poignant.

Chris - I will comment on that post you mention. And, Cam - yeah, I now see how very clever my dad has been all these years.

Great. You just knew that somebody would come up with the bright idea of taking the Hooters approach in the coffee business.

I suppose that's one way to lure male customers away from Starbucks around Seattle...As far as I'm concerned: not lovin' it.

At least to me, the entire concept is gross, and possibly un-hygienic. The lowest common denominator wins again...

This could be the start of a decidely ugly and unpleasant trend... the "Hooterization" of everything. Drive-thrus. Bank tellers. The pharmacist filling my migraine meds.

All I can say is that when I take my car in for an oil change to a mechanic sporting a thong... well, things might get uglier still!!

Amen, Paul and Ann. Let's put it this way: just more sexploitation on the way. And Paul is so right: why must some businesses always play to the "lowest common denominator"? It is gross.

I held off commenting because I didn't want to sound like an old fart, but I hate this. It is demeaning to the customers, to the baristas and to the city of Seattle, where I lived for 20 years.

It is marketing at the lowest-common denominator, and I predict it will fail and reach a plateau that is unsustainable for growth and margins.

I, personally, am with all of you on this. LCD, for sure. But there are people who respond to this, clearly (love the term "hooterization"!) It's just that they may not be anyone we know. However, the sexpresso stands sure do know how to "resonate" with them. If we look at it from anything other than the marketing perspective, we can easily say the world is going to you know where in a handbasket. Sigh.

Andrea, thanks for posting about this. I wrote about it about a week or so (http://criticalfluff.blogspot.com/2007/01/500-crabapples-for-not-putting.html) and I'm glad to see how well the original story is travelling around the blogosphere. You're completely right, from a pure marketing standpoint, it's unoriginal, but effective. but from any other stance, it's truly disturbing. I hope that fact that so many bloggers are picking up on this is more a product of it being ridiculous and gross, not lauding it.

So gross. I feel icky all over.

acutally, this kind of marketing has been going on for years now in Taiwan, where nearly nakid girls sell betel nuts along roadeside kiosks with large glass windows and men drive by in cars or trucks to get their daily fix of the betel nut's speed buzz. Ten years old already. google "betel but beauties" "taiwan" to see the pics. Seattle just copied Taiwan here.

Happening in the Bible Belt, too... in Tulsa, Oklahoma we have current controversy over a men's barber shop where the stylists are all attractive women in various... costumes, I guess, is most appropriate. Catholic schoolgirl, cheerleader, French maid... etc. And I just have to say, "Wow, don't all those random hair trimmings combined with that tight outfit get incredibly uncomfortable?" Ugh.

In case you didn't read the stories carefully, the majority of the coffee shop owners are FEMALE.

The feminazi's who feel this is all due to gendercasting or a patriarchial control mechanism are attempting to avoid accountability and place "blame" elsewhere.

Humans as promotional elements is nothing new.

If you don't like the technique or message - don't shop there.