Photos by Jenny Lee

False Consciousness: In Marxist theory, the process by which the real economic imbalances of the dominant social system get hidden and ordinary citizens come to believe in the perfection of the system that oppresses them. The biblical phrase “the meek shall inherit the earth” would be considered by Marxism to be an example of false consciousness, since it tells the downtrodden not to rebel against the system but await later reward. Twentieth-century developments in Marxism see the concept of false consciousness as itself potentially oppressive, since it defines the masses as unaware dupes of the system. In contrast, concepts such as hegemony emphasize the active struggle of people over meanings rather than their passive acceptance of ideological systems.

Pseudoindividualization: A term used in Marxist theory to describe the way that mass culture creates a false sense of individuality in cultural consumers. Pseudoindividualization refers to the effect of popular culture and advertising that addresses the viewer/consumer specifically as an individual, as in the case of advertising actually claiming that a product will enhance one’s individuality, while it is speaking to many people at once. It is “pseudo” individuality if one attains it through mass culture, “pseudo” because the message is predicated on many people receiving a message of individuality at the same time, hence not on individuality but on homogenity.

- Glossary, “Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture” by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwirhgt (Call #: HM500.S78 2001 in Ryerson library)

The more I read about the Marxist ideas on advertising and capitalism from “Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture”, the more I can relate the idea of pseudoindividualization to a specific corporation — Starbucks Coffee. Starbucks epitomizes the false consciousness that by purchasing and drinking its coffee, we are unique beings, when really, Starbucks is now a household name and is part of literally millions of North Americans’ daily routine.

I analyzed the many ways in which Starbucks interpellates consumers as cosmopolitan, socially aware, highly cultural, hip and successful “yuppies” when I wrote an article on the Starbucks phenomenon. I wrote it last semester for a course called Info and Visual Resources (JRN 100), a mandatory course for all first-years at the Ryerson School of Journalism. In this article, I interviewed a marketing professor from Queen’s University, an owner of an independent coffee bar on Queen Street East, various Starbucks baristas and consumers.

The following is the article. The highlighted portions have to do with the concepts of False Consciousness and Pseudoindividuality. I really enjoyed writing this article and hearing expert opinions on how Starbucks not only “democratizes the espresso drink,” but also feeds the concept of pseudoindividualization in order to succeed.

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ARTICLE BY JENNY LEE

JRN 100

It’s Sunday evening. The Starbucks at the corner of Yonge and Charles streets is filled to the brim with customers like a cup of sloshing coffee. Pink-cheeked from the November air and bundled up in cashmere and wool, they mill inside in search of warmth and caffeine.

Inside, elegant yellow lights glow behind tan lampshades, jazzy drums play at the right volume, and polished mahogany tables shine. People chat while drinking their vanilla lattes from red holiday edition cups, complete with green cup sleeves and the Starbucks logo. The cushy armchairs swallow people whole, people with laptops, with books, with shopping bags from Banana Republic. The sweet aroma of espresso is heavy in the air.

This kind of Starbucks Coffee scene is becoming more and more common in Toronto. In 2002, there were 25 Starbucks locations in just the Central East region of downtown Toronto. Today, there are 83 locations in the area, up from 74 last year. In fact, since going public in 1992, Starbucks has grown yearly revenues to more than $6.5 billion, achieved a stock price increase of more than 6,500 per cent and opened over 11,000 locations worldwide.

“Without question, Starbucks Coffee is one of the greatest business success stories,” writes John Moore, who spent eight years designing marketing programs for the company, in his book Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture. Starbucks offers notably more higher prices compared to other coffee chains such as Second Cup and Timothy’s World Coffee, so why is it so popular?

Emily Raben, a former Starbucks barista, says that she was first attracted to the company because of its apparent popularity. “It’s so Hollywood, everyone liked it because all the celebrities drank it. Coffee from Starbucks felt cooler than a cup from Tim Horton’s,” she says.

Jay Handelman, associate professor at Queen’s School of Business in Kingston, Ont., says there’s more to the success Starbucks than a cup of good coffee. “In the consumer’s point of view, coffee is a just tangible product, but we’re not just economic people; people don’t want just a cup of coffee,” the marketing professor says. “Starbucks taps into that cultural market and is able to allow the consumer to act out a role of an urban, chic, international, professional individual.”

Alex Tran, 25, long-time barista currently working at a café called Mercury Organic Bar, says Starbucks made the espresso-based coffee, such as latte and macchiato, mainstream and a household name. Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, would agree, and with good reason: in his 1997 book Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, Schultz explains, step-by-step, how he reinvented the North American idea of coffee by having a clear vision of romantic, Italian-style cafés everywhere. That vision stuck since 1987, and Schultz’s underdog business eventually grew to a corporation worth $14 billion.

Handelman, whose research focuses on emotional, social, and cultural dimensions of product marketing strategies, compares the typical Starbucks retailer to a stage, on which stylish, matching furniture are props and coffee-knowledgeable employees are actors. “The consumer fits right into this role when they sip on a coffee and is able to pontificate. It’s very esoteric and intangible,” he explains. Whether this comparison is fair, or whether these emotion-swaying marketing strategies are acceptable are up for debate. The fact is that Starbucks provides more than a physical tangible product that other coffee chains offer.

“It’s just to do with the recognizable symbol on the road,” says Matthew Taylor, owner of Mercury Organic Bar, an independent Toronto café on Queen Street East. “Mainly, people going to (Starbucks) like the idea of being involved in a coffee culture without actually being in one.”

Esther Mackenzie, 18, says Starbucks succeeds because of its familiarity. “It tries to be kind of like a living room,” the long-time Starbucks fan says. “I’ve just always gone to Starbucks, it’s a tradition. Every Starbucks looks the same.”

Starbucks not only offers familiarity, but also a sense of luxury, according to many. It has to do not with only the price, says Wesley Sze, 18, a Starbucks barista for a little over a year. The upscale atmosphere, well-designed store interior and courteous baristas make the Starbucks experience worth the extra dimes. “There’s a certain class about it. People like holding a Starbucks cup with a logo’ed sleeve,” says Sze. “Holding Starbucks gives out the message that you’re a successful individual.”

He’s not far off. Mackenzie, an arts student at University of Toronto, recalls a story her Filipino classmate, Clarissa Mae de Leon, once told her. According to de Leon, in the Philippines, holding a Starbucks cup is such a status symbol, that some people purchase a drink once, keep the Starbucks cup, wash it out, and the next time they go out, pour in their own drinks and carry it around.

Such a situation may be rare in Toronto, but plenty of people are buying into the Starbucks lifestyle, says Mackenzie. “We all secretly want to be that late 20s, early 30s sophisticated professional who listens to jazz music.”

The Frappuccino, a blended coffee drink and 1994 Starbucks invention, is also a status symbol among teens and the younger crowd, says Sze. Frappuccinos come in many sweet flavours such as caramel, mocha, java chip and vanilla. “Strawberry and Crème Frappuccinos are definitely not what coffee is about,” he says. Plus, adds Sze, the seasonal drinks such as eggnog lattes aren’t really coffee drinks – but as the company claims, Starbucks doesn’t fill bellies; it fills souls.

Starbucks is also known for its own lingo and notoriously long names for drinks. It’s not a size small, medium, or large drink – rather, it’s tall, grande or venti. “People like having as many modifications on their drinks as they can. It makes them feel special,” says Sze. “They like to hear the barista call it back, too, things like 2½ pumps syrup this, 110 degrees that. They like to show it off, saying ‘I am one of those customers,’ or ‘I bet that’s the most complicated drink you’ve made!’ You can tell they’re proud of having their own drink.”

Starbucks initially draws a customer in through its projected image, but ultimately, it keeps the customer because there is a tangible product and good service at the end, says Raben, 18. Both Raben and Sze credit the strict training for the quality of customer service. Raben, who worked at a Kitchener, Ont. location for four months in 2006, recalls that during training her manager even weighed her drink to check for correct amount of steamed milk and foam. “People grade you on your smile, eye contact, tone of voice,” she says.

Also, baristas are given a 200-page handbook that teaches them about coffee, not to mention thorough lessons complete with coffee-tasting, aroma-sniffing and video-watching. “They drill into the employees that Starbucks is the best coffee,” says Raben. After such intensive training, she says she now can taste the subtle differences between coffee blends.

Taylor sees the strict training as a negative. “(Starbucks baristas) are like automatons or robots. They’re a falsity in what you’re getting,” he says, pointing out that Starbucks baristas are gold to greet customers in certain ways. Tran, who has worked with Taylor for years, says working at Mercury feels like “hanging out.” The baristas know all the regulars by name, and have hundreds of personal relationships with them, he says. At Mercury, regulars constantly run into each other and make friendly conversation even when they’re not on first-name terms. One can hear “nice to meet you,” between strangers lining up for coffee, and it’s a bewildering scene to witness after the “go through a revolving door, press a button” (Tran’s words) method of Starbucks.

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Despite its popularity, it’s clear that Starbucks is not everyone’s cup of tea – or rather, coffee. Starbucks is a global company that uses the local stage to appeal to the local consumer who wants to be worldly, says Handelman. The term he uses is glocalization: a mix of globalization and localization. There is a resistance movement against the company, which is being accused of homogenizing culture. Independent cafés and coffeehouses are making a statement against Starbucks, says Handelman. In fact, he says, those independent cafés may be doing better than ever by “providing a key point of segmentation.”

“Independent cafés draw a different, local crowd that’s fiercely loyal,” says Handelman. Some aren’t swayed by Starbucks’s polished image. For one thing, the coffee itself isn’t top quality, according toTaylor.

“Starbucks coffee is low quality, assembly line stuff,” says Taylor without hesitation. “It’s tacky, cheesy, it’s the McDonald’s of coffee.”

Sze may not go as far as call it “tacky”, but admits that “true coffee drinkers” don’t go to Starbucks. To make things cost-effective, Starbucks started using Verismo espresso machines a few years ago. Baristas can produce a shot of espresso by just pressing a button, rather than by pulling a shot by hand and cleaning out the grounds from the filter each time. This mechanical process makes for less quality espresso, but frankly, most customers don’t care, says Sze. Starbucks is less about coffee, and more about the experience, he says.

Tran, who has worked previously at Starbucks, Second Cup, Balzac’s Coffee (of the Distillery District in Toronto), says the Starbucks drink masks the taste of espresso with thick syrups, sugar, cream, and the like. “There’s a natural sweetness in milk without having to add all sorts of muck. We accentuate bitter taste of the espresso,” the self-claimed coffee geek says.

Does this make independent cafés elitist? It depends on how you approach it, says Taylor. “You educate your customers gradually,” he explains. “We’re not forcing (our coffee) on anybody. This is good coffee, it’s no different than wine.”

Tran also credits the fresh ingredients for the coffee quality at Mercury. The small business uses freshly roasted beans from Intelligensia Coffee Inc. roastery (which buys coffee directly from farmers at fair trade prices), compared to Starbucks, which uses huge batches of beans roasted months ahead of time and kept in warehouses. Taylor also buys as much organic beans as he can and uses only organic milk. Working in a business smaller than Starbucks makes it possible to set standards higher, says Tran. He says independent cafés have a 90 per cent success rate, just based on coffee. “All I can say is, take your chances with independent,” says Taylor. If a customer still prefers sugary drinks, however, “There’s a Starbucks is down the corner.” It’s true: just eight or ninths months after Mercury Organic Bar was established in March, 2006, a Starbucks location was set up on the same block on Queen Street East, according to Tran.

One Mercury regular says, “(Mercury) has the best espresso.” She then adds that it has
a nice vibe. “It’s a rock and roll coffee shop.” Like some other regulars here, she is averse to Starbucks and corporate, commercial coffee. “They’re the big guy weeding out the small guys,” she says.

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Starbucks retailers have been selling and promoting CDs since 1994. In Pour Your Heart Into It, Howard Schultz writes, “Selling music CDs wasn’t just a marketing ploy imposed from on high… it was a perfect demonstration of the character of Starbucks, one that was maturing in harmony with its customers.”

“You wouldn’t find rap music there,” says Handelman, of the music sold at Starbucks. Indeed, the kinds of music Starbucks promotes, such as Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan, are part of their image and are meant to exude classiness, says Sze. Starbucks added movies, books and even games onto the merchandise section ever since the company acquired Hear Music in 1999.

The 2006 “arthouse film” Akeelah and the Bee, and Cranium, a game billed as “The Game For Your Whole Brain,” have all been heavily promoted by Starbucks. While the merchandise are “consistent with the whole stage,” as Handelman notes, he isn’t sure if it’s a good thing.

“On a business approach, yes, this is appealing to the consumers,” he says. The problem comes in, when on a large scale, “We’re not just seeking products, we’re seeking a whole story. When I’m sitting in that arm chair, I feel like I’m, ironically, the only sophisticated person there. I’m an expert, a connoisseur. I know what I’m talking about.”

Sze disagrees with the excessive sale of products other than coffee. “They’re not flying off the shelves,” he says. “Music can be justified, but movies, books, and DVDs are way too off.”

Taylor, too, isn’t too fond of the merchandise. “Music and coffee together is really important, but Starbucks lost its focus. The DVDs and games have absolutely nothing to do with coffee. It’s like a mini department store: there’s a CD room, a place for mugs and freaking stuffed teddy bears,” he says.

Sze says that Starbucks has done a good job on building a respected, prestigious brand, but agrees that the company needs to pay attention to its roots. In fact, Starbucks CEO Schultz himself gave out a similar message out in a blunt Feb. 14 memo, warning executives that the chain may be commoditizing its brand and making itself more vulnerable to competition from other coffee shops and fast-food chains.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the nearly 800-word memo questioned whether Starbucks’ automatic espresso machines, new store designs and elimination of some in-store coffee grinding may have compromised the “romance and theatre” of a visit. Schultz is questioning whether Starbucks’ drive for growth and efficiency has diluted that experience, says the article.

The success of Starbucks reflects the nature of consumer-driven culture, especially in North America, says Handelman. “We’re being defined by brands to the point where I can only express myself in brands. And Starbucks brands a very unique cultural story,” says Handelman. “It wins the emotional share. They’re going through the heart, not the head. Not getting you to think but feel, that’s culture-based branding.”

And it’s not just Starbucks. “You can’t pin this down on one company,” says Handelman. However, he sees that he is starting to see the end of cycle with the increase of environmental awareness and focus on corporate responsibility. “Increasingly, people ask are asking where products come from, and the whole brand story breaks down. It’s the Achilles Heel, this physical tangible question of where the product comes from,” he says. Corporate responsibility may pacify the consumer, but even this is being challenged. “Companies can’t hide behind veils anymore,” says Handelman.

Mercury Organic Bar knows this. “People are willing to pay more for ethical products,” Taylor says. “We try not to exploit famers and give money to the community where the coffee came from. That money can go towards clean water systems, school, reforestration in places like Brazil, El Salvador and Ethiopia. Taylor, who buys direct trade coffee, says farmers with Intelligentsia get paid $1.50 and up to $1.80 per pound of coffee, while non-fair trade farmers get paid $1 per pound or even less.

Mercury also uses Green Shift cups, which are made from 100 per cent renewable resources and is completely biodegradable, turning into compost in 30 to 50 days. “It’s more expensive, but it’s more an incentive than what the customer wants,” explains Tran. The café tries to minimize wastes, and people appreciate that, he says. In Mercury, there are three garbage containers, each labelled compost, recyclables, and others. There’s a sink by the counter, and customers leave their empty mugs there as they leave.

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Behind the counter, Tran grinds the coffee beans and packs the ground into the espresso filter. He pulls a shot of aromatic espresso straight into a small china mug. He pours in equal part steamed milk, tilting the mug while he pours to create a marbled swirl of white foam and dark espresso. He grabs a matching saucer, a tiny silver teaspoon. Here’s a real cappuccino, free of vanilla pumps or sugar, he says. One sip reveals the strong and bitter taste of nutty espresso. It tastes wild and alive. This coffee may not be a status symbol, but it tastes pretty damn good.

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