Starbucks Sociological Analysis

All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I was working on homework at the Starbucks on Peace Street. At first it seemed like most other nights that I went to work at Starbucks, but then I suddenly began to recognize the various sociological dynamics all over the coffee shop. I began to look with a sociological eye at, little things and big things, symbols, and values.

First, I want to discuss symbols and values because I think these two non-material items of culture can play off one another. One of the very obvious symbols associated with Starbucks is the Mermaid with a crown in green on all the cups, merchandise, napkins, and the sign for all Starbucks chains. I have probably looked at my Starbucks cup many, many, many times since I began going to the coffee shop in different parts of the country many years ago, but when I began to look more sociologically at this symbol I examined how her long hair covered the mermaids breasts. I drew from Peter Kauffman’s article of, “Asking Sociological Questions” to examine this symbol. This symbol was something that I have looked at and never questioned, so I decided to question it sociologically. I posed the question, “Why would this symbol appeal to buyers?” I thought sociologically about how this symbol appeals to the male consumer and how Starbucks have

Society values what they believe is appealing to a male and often this entails women being objectified while promoting material items. This idea was illustrated in the film we watched, “Killing Us Softly”. This film highlighted how the media using advertisements, specifically of women to promote what they were wanting to consumers to buy. What I really shocking to me is that there is normally never a correlation between skimpily clothed women and the object that companies are trying to promote and