Jonah Mathewson
Jessica Pressman
ECL 305:Literature in the Environment
14 April 2024
Starbucks
The history of the Starbucks, its name, and logo (the mermaid) serve as a reflection of Western ideologies embodying themes of exploration, misogyny/feminism, capitalism, and contemporary environmental issues. Created and designed by three men, the history is heavily based on maritime themes including its opening location in Pikes Place Seattle (big seaport), the world-famous logo of a mermaid, and even the name is a reference to a Moby-Dick character named “Starbuck” which correlates to our studies over the duration of this English course.
The theme of exploration is represented through its maritime background and success. Often the ocean serves as a means of transit and travel facilitating exploration. Obvious examples of this are the voyages undertaken by famous explorers Christopher Columbus, Magellan, and Vespucci to name a few. Its extreme success and expansion has acted as an explorer itself by establishing its presence overseas in many countries leaving and imposing its influence and western culture in vast foreign cities big and small which can be compared to that of colonialism where another foreign entity gains a foothold in a foreign territory. As of today the company operates over 38,000 stores in 80 countries.
The logo itself and its meaning is a representation of misogyny and feminism all throughout its history of logo modifications. Its first image depicted a topless mermaid with short hair opening its split tail up and apart with its hands. The second modification to the logo changes its color from brown to green and covers the mermaid exposed breast with long wavy hair but maintains the action of the mermaid holding her legs up. The third and fourth image modifications are relatively similar depicting a closeup face shot of the mermaid with a slight view of its raised forked tail. The intentions of mermaids as we know is to entice, attract, and seduce men leading to their demise which from a business perspective can be to fulfills a customer’s strong desire for caffeine possibly leading to the detrimental affect of developing an addiction. However, the modifications of its logo with each iteration showcasing a more conservative image of the mermaid shows empowerment to women by covering her parts up and eliminating the need to blast a naked woman on their business to attract customers. One thing I found interesting was the heavy presence of male figures with the company including the creators and even the name “Starbucks” which was a reference to a male character, yet they placed a nameless seductive female entity as the face of the business. This structure of men using the image of a female mermaid (who already symbolizes lust and temptation to bring in customers and revenue) can be compared to the relationship between pimps and prostitutes highlighting the concept of misogyny and the control over women.
Before we knew the name Starbucks as it is today, it was initially named “Starbucks Coffee Tea and Spices” giving off the theme of capitalism. During the early days of trade coffee, tea, and spices were all extremely popular commodities that often brough wealth as well as bloodshed. Nevertheless, the trade of these goods facilitated the emergence of global capitalism evident with the historical Spice Trade, Silk road, and large trading companies such as the East India Trading Company. In today’s world, Starbucks is participating in global capitalism by having a presence in foreign markets whether its establishing new locations abroad or sourcing coffee beans from foreign entities.
Our recent readings in class have brought up environmental issues and humanity’s lack of attention towards the ocean. Over the last decade many companies began promoting their sustainable practices whether it’s them using recycled material in their clothing or using energy efficient methods such as solar panels. Starbucks has become a big advocate for promoting sustainable practices as seen with the replacement of plastic straws to paper straws. However, many people were not satisfied with the change as it did not suit their needs (the straws would dissolve) and Starbucks later rolled out the new sippy cup lids to solve this. Starbucks’ continued effort to implement sustainable practices in their business model regardless of the initial backfire of the paper straw indicates its dedicated mission to promoting awareness on ocean pollution and emphasizing the importance of being ecofriendly.
So how does all of this relate to our course? We have learned about the world environment throughout history using the mermaid as a symbol to symbolize different themes including the ones mentioned above: exploration, misogyny/feminism, capitalism, and contemporary environmental issues. In this case I have used Starbucks to symbolize these same exact themes by using its history and modifications to the company to show its adaptation to the constantly shifting environment whether that’s creating a less revealing logo or to implementing green practices.