On November 6th, a scandalous surprise emerged from the release of the Starbucks winter menu: the bearista. A seemingly adorable glass collectible captivated the hearts of many consumers, but the extent to which many consumers went to obtain the cup was frightening.
The bearista was simply a glass cup in the shape of a honey bear with the iconic Starbucks logo printed onto the beanie, and elements of the iconic Starbucks green. Priced at $30 on the market, the issue did not lie within the price, although pretty expensive for a cup. The issue lay with the lack of supply.
In simpler terms, this issue stemmed from basic economic issues. A high demand for the cups with low supply in an era of mass consumerism led to the outbreak of violent fights, expensive resellings on eBay for $300+, people camping outside the premises for hours, and Starbucks releasing an apology statement themselves. So, really, is this bear cup worth all this praise? Our answer is no, but you can determine your answer after reading this article.
Camping Out
The night before the drop, there were many people preparing well in advance. As most Starbucks around the globe open at 5:00 am, people were lining up long before then. Videos online show people arriving at their local Starbucks as early as 9 pm the night before. Some people came prepared with tents and blankets, others brought lawn chairs and pillows. Around 3:00 am, the sidewalks leading up to the stores were full of campers longing for their very own bearistas.
Some people slept soundly on the cold, winter streets, while others stayed awake the whole night, so that they could be alert and ready at exactly 5:00 am when the doors finally opened. Most people’s goal was to be the first in “line”, so that they could guarantee a cup of their own. Little did they know, waiting in line all night was not at all going to secure their chances of getting a cup. In fact, if you weren’t the first 3 in line, chances are you wouldn’t get one at all.
Stock
Starbucks had been promoting these bear cups for months all over their social media. To put it into perspective, they currently have 17.7 million Instagram followers. So why in the right mind would they only send 2-7 cups per store? 2-7 cups. Compared to the hundreds of thousands of customers at stores daily. Compared to the millions of followers counting down the day that they could get their own bear cup.
Employees buying the cup
One of the biggest scandals of this whole situation is the Starbucks employees buying the cups before the customers got the chance to. It has been suspected that the baristas bought the cups while they were setting up for opening, before the stores officially opened to the public. This caused many fights between the customers and the baristas, where the customers claimed that the baristas were breaking company policy and that they were being unfair. It even went as far as customers telling the baristas that they have to return their cups to be put up for sale for the public.
Obviously, the baristas did not need to listen to the customers, and most did not return their cups. Under Starbucks’ company policy, the baristas were allowed to purchase the cups, but not before the store opened, which is what the customers were trying to argue. There is no way to determine whether or not the baristas bought the cups before the stores opened, so none of them really can get in trouble under company policy. This enraged a lot of the customers, and they think that the baristas shouldn’t have been able to buy the cups at all.
Because of the fact that the number of cups was limited in each store, we understand why this would make the customers mad; however, you can’t truly say that if you were an employee at Starbucks, you wouldn’t want to buy the cup as well.
Fights
Furthermore, consumers took their craze to another level. This time, violence was involved. As CNN reporter Vanesa Yurkevich states, “You’re watching people in New Jersey elbowing each other, trying to get their hands on Starbucks’ newest holiday product.” Customers weren’t the only ones fighting; however, baristas engaged in the fight as well. One barista was seen launching a cup at a customer’s head, to which the customer projected another cup back.
The fights weren’t just physical, though, as many furious insults were thrown at baristas for “hogging” the supply of the cups. One clip online shows an angry customer shouting at an employee, “So she’s shopping at Starbucks? I don’t want to hear that she’s shopping at Starbucks”, emphasizing the annoyance surrounding the low supply for customers. This battle was fought both ways, highlighting that consumerism doesn’t just affect customers; it affects the entirety of a business.
Reselling the Bear
What can $50,000 get you? With $50,000, you could buy a car, a semester of college tuition, rent, and a cup! The bear cup resellers went crazy. There was one being sold for $40.00, not far out of reach from the original price. But $50,000? I don’t know the legitimacy of this listing, but things have gotten out of hand. I think all these resellers need to get a reality check and understand the actual worth of $50,000. In short, the only value the cup has, if any, is its scarcity.
