It is rather frightening that I am sitting in a Starbucks in Wuhan, and it is pretty much indistinguishible from a Starbucks in the USA. The corporation must have the interiors prefabricated. They are designed to give a false sense of craftsmanship and warmth. It is really wierd.
I can recall drinking coffee in college type coffee houses in Cambridge, Madison Wisconsin, Eugene Oregon, and various other hipster places before Starbucks took over the world.
The soundtracks for caffeine in Wuhan is alot of jazz music, which is great, but it is scary that when I realize it comes from a can.
If a corporation, which is run and managed by humans, can effectively manipulate consumer consciousness, imagine what a more powerful life form could do.
The trick of consumerist culture are the times when you forget it is someone elses pre fabricated and manufactured experience and absorb it as somehow genuine. In wuhan, all I have to do is look out the window at the communist era apartments and giant billboards in Chinese.
I can remember the first Starbucks I went to. At that time, when there were fewer franchises there was some sort of variation among stores. Now, the only variation seems to relate to the physical layout of the store. The furniture, product and people are cookie cutter.
Nonetheless, since I really only have a choice of coffee here or at Mac Donalds, I am grateful for the sensory manipulation experience of Starbucks.
I can recall drinking coffee in college type coffee houses in Cambridge, Madison Wisconsin, Eugene Oregon, and various other hipster places before Starbucks took over the world.
The soundtracks for caffeine in Wuhan is alot of jazz music, which is great, but it is scary that when I realize it comes from a can.
If a corporation, which is run and managed by humans, can effectively manipulate consumer consciousness, imagine what a more powerful life form could do.
The trick of consumerist culture are the times when you forget it is someone elses pre fabricated and manufactured experience and absorb it as somehow genuine. In wuhan, all I have to do is look out the window at the communist era apartments and giant billboards in Chinese.
I can remember the first Starbucks I went to. At that time, when there were fewer franchises there was some sort of variation among stores. Now, the only variation seems to relate to the physical layout of the store. The furniture, product and people are cookie cutter.
Nonetheless, since I really only have a choice of coffee here or at Mac Donalds, I am grateful for the sensory manipulation experience of Starbucks.
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