Starbucks Shrugs Off Big Mac Attack

Unlimited Internet access comes with new content system

(NEWSER) - Starbucks will offer free unlimited Wi-Fi at its company-owned stores starting July 1. Battered by the recession and the successful challenge mounted by McDonald's, the coffee giant will also plug its customers into customized content—including free access to pay sites like the Wall Street Journal's, Frank James blogs for NPR . The goal is to draw users in and keep them around, notes the LA Times . More»

Marketing campaigns launch this week

(NEWSER) - A classy coffee war begins this week, with troubled giant Starbucks facing up-and-comer McDonald’s, the Wall Street Journal reports. Both firms are starting national marketing campaigns, with Starbucks insisting that its coffee is the best while McDonald’s tells consumers that its new lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, and hot chocolates can lift their spirits daily at an affordable price. More»

It almost had a different Ahab-themed name

(NEWSER) - “Starbucks is the coffee icon people either love or love to hate,” writes Dave Roos, but how much do you actually know about the coffee giant? He rounds up 10 educational facts on Mental Floss :

• It was almost named Pequods: Yes, that’s “an extremely vague literary reference” to Captain Ahab’s boat in Moby-Dick. The founders ended up naming it after his first mate instead—Starbuck.
• The logo explanation: The confusing image of a woman (what does it mean?) started out as another nautical reference—a picture of a siren—but was too risqué. After much editing, we got the green image you know and love.
• The kidney transplant: One barista at a Washington Starbucks donated her kidney to a regular customer in 2007.

Iced drinks available only in Phoenix and Tampa for now

(NEWSER) - Starbucks is offering a 31-ounce cup of iced coffee or tea in Phoenix and Tampa. The move is likely another step in the competition between McDonald's and Starbucks—McDonald's sells 32-ounce sweet teas in Southern markets, and recently started offering espresso. The new Starbucks size is called "Trenta." An iced coffee in that size costs $3.30 and an iced tea $2.60, Reuters reports. More»

Famous chain loses in Slate taste test

(NEWSER) - Coffee snobs may “talk about the subtleties of macchiato” and scorn the chain stores, but “even sanctimonious coffee bores must lapse: The flesh is weak, the day is full, and Starbucks is just half a block away,” writes Nathan Heller for Slate. Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s also offer a quick fix, so six “notorious coffee addicts” set out to compare, judging taste, consistency, presentation, and process: More»