This morning at 9am every Starbucks in the U.S. had a “surprise event”. Except that last night all the news outlets (and Starbucks’ own website) already were announcing what the event was… a free 30 minute tasting of their new Pike Place Roast (featuring an older and more “risque” version of the Starbucks logo on the cup). I’m not a coffee drinker (hate the taste, love the aroma) but I have been interested in Starbucks latest challenges. Watching a huge successful company struggle to regain its momentum is super interesting as its a very difficult challenge. As best I can tell, this new coffee is a direct response to McDonald’s challenge to Starbucks (as they are basically their biggest competitor), as well as many people’s feeling that Starbucks coffee is over-roasted.

Even though I don’t drink coffee I kind of wanted to head over there at 9am to see what the deal was. But once I saw the details on the news, I decided to pass. I’m sure the Starbucks PR folks wanted maximum turnout for the event and thought the news would help. But for me it made the “secret” not as exciting. I don’t know what would have happened if I’d gone over there and found out at 9am. Jenny passed by Starbucks this morning and said she didn’t see any crowds or even larger than normal numbers of folks. I think if it were up to me, I would have just relied on the “surprise” alone and not let the mainstream press tell the story the night before. But that’s just me.

Should be interesting to watch Howard Schultz try to turn things around.