On a May day twenty some years ago, I was given a name that no one understands when I say it. And when they do understand me, I get a lot of 'that's my grandma's name'! So I never took it as anything besides simple miscommunication that I get Ruby, Russie or Ru written on my chai latte from time to time.
When I googled "does Starbucks spell names wrong on purpose" these were the first six sources to come up:
- Cosmopolitan
- Daily Mail
- E!
- Huffington Post
- Buzzfeed
- Fox News
People must be interested in the debate because these are some of the biggest media sources out there. I also came across a Tumblr page dedicated to 'misspellings from your favorite barista's' called That's Not My Name, Starbucks.
http://thatsnotmynamestarbucks.tumblr.com/
Even though calling off a number for people like they do at McDonald's or Taco bell is probably more efficient I understand why Starbucks chooses to hand write names.
Both hearing and writing the customer's name allows the barista to become more familiar with his or her regular customer much faster & being able to greet a regular customer by name implements a much stronger customer - barista connection.
According to an article on Thrillist,
"We have never asked or directed any of our partners to misspell names of our customers for any reason,” a Starbucks spokesperson said. "Writing names on cups is a fun tradition born out of the relationship and interaction between our employees and customers. Our [baristas] aim to do their best when it comes to spelling the names of our customers, though at times it can be tricky."
But on the other hand,
In an interview with Cosmopolitan, one unnamed assistant manager told the magazine they did, in fact, misspell names to promote the coffee chain.
“I don’t know if everyone does it, but when I asked my manager if she does, she admitted most Starbucks employees use it as a marketing tool, she said. Most people aren’t going to post a photo to social media of a cup with their name spelled right. I just use it as a way to be funny, but now I get why people use it as a way to promote the business.”
Many think it is all part of a big joke and they are intentionally misspelling our names and others think it is due to time constraints from the morning coffee rush.
I think that most of the time baristas are in a rush and don't have the time to ask how to spell your name or even give it more than a second thought. I also think they are having a little fun and hoping to make their customers smile or laugh and make their work day more interesting when possible.
But the more I think about it being a marketing ploy, the more I love Starbucks, and I didn't know that was possible!!!!
Whichever side you believe, there is proof that this has been working in Starbucks favor.
Each time someone gets a crazy spelling of their name what do they do? Post it on Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat. Not only are people posting about it, it has created a buzz. People are going to Starbucks just to see if they are going to get an off the wall spelling to their name on their venti frappes.
Whether the misspelled iced coffees is something Starbucks has started themselves, or a trend started by consumers that Starbucks decided to run with, it has provided all the free advertising they could dream of.
Because if you didn't post about it on social media did it really happen?
If baristas spelling your name wrong bothers you that much don't worry, there is an app for that. Starbucks mobile payment app accounts for 50% of all US Starbucks transactions, which makes it one of the most successful food and drink apps on the market.
I have also heard that Starbucks misspells names but I always assumed it was because they didn't have time to ask every single person how they would like their name spelled. I've gotten Kassy, Cassy, Casey, Cassi, Kassi, etc. written on my cups in past Starbucks experiences. Almost every variation of my name has been used! I never thought about this as a marketing strategy but it seems pretty clever to me! Even if this was an unintentional thing, I know so many people who have shared photos of incorrect spellings of their names on a Starbucks cup. Seems like an interesting and unique way of marketing! Thanks for sharing!
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