Mixing coffee and crude

May 28, 2007
Energy expert Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, a best-seller history of the oil industry, is now appearing in print on hot-drink cups at Starbucks Corp., the coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Wash., with 7,521 self-operated and 5,647 licensed stores in 39 countries.

Energy expert Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, a best-seller history of the oil industry, is now appearing in print on hot-drink cups at Starbucks Corp., the coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Wash., with 7,521 self-operated and 5,647 licensed stores in 39 countries.

The latest publication by Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, is a much shorter read than the 877-page Prize. It consists of just two sentences: “To meet the energy challenge requires the most important energy of all-human creativity. That’s the real prize.”

It may not have the dramatic or defiant ring of “Don’t give up the drillship” or “I’ve just began to drill!” But it’s a thought-provoking concept to chew over with a doughnut and a hot cup of Joe.

Yergin’s is the 243rd entry in a “The Way I See It” program started in 2005 as “a natural extension of the Starbucks experience,” a throwback to the “age-old tradition of the coffeehouse as an egalitarian gathering place where spirited conversation and dynamic debate are the norm,” said company officials, who see their coffeehouses as “gathering places for friendly meetings and conversation between friends and neighbors.” Yergin’s “timely insight” will appear for a limited period of time on the “iconic” white cups in which Starbucks serves its coffee at its North American outlets.

Hand-picked quotes

Company officials hand-pick such “quality roasted quotes from a diverse and extraordinary assortment of individuals, from authors to artists, sports figure to scientists, musicians to politicians, and even local Starbucks baristas [and] customers,” they said. All quotes were contributed free of charge and must be “original content,” which rules out quotes from books and speeches and limits participation to living persons. Each quarter, 34 new quotes are introduced and remain in circulation until those cup supplies run out.

“We only feature one quote per contributor,” said Tricia Moriarty, a Starbucks representative. “All of the white hot-beverage cups in North America carry the quotes-there is no extra cost [for the cups].”

A review board comprising internal Starbucks partners as well as people not employed by the company determines which quotes appear on the cups. “Starbucks looks for original contributions that provoke thought, spark conversation, and initiate debate without being offensive or inflammatory. Contributors are specifically asked to not include indecent speech, hate speech, or ad hominem attacks. Starbucks also asks that contributors consider that some issues might be too big to be properly handled in such a small forum, or too divisive to be respectfully treated on the back of a coffee cup,” officials said.

It’s good to know that energy is not too big or too divisive a subject for such a forum. “We have featured quotes on many, many different topics including energy and the environment,” a Starbucks representative told OGJ. However, company officials could not say how many times energy and the environment have been featured on their coffee cups. Nor could anyone confirm if former Vice-President Al Gore has yet been quoted.

“It is a great honor to be selected for this program,” Yergin said in a joint release. “Starbucks provides a unique way to communicate with millions of its customers across North America, in a daily moment of calm, about the global energy challenges and the human spirit that will respond to it.” He said, “A great bubbling and brewing of energy innovation is now taking place, and where better to reflect upon it than over a brew at Starbucks.” Yergin previously coined that term, “the great bubbling” to describe the widespread technological response to the energy challenge.

It might prove symbolic if, thanks to Yergin’s inspiration, Starbucks coffeehouses do become neighborhood centers for the discussion and resolution of energy issues in North America. Coffeehouses have been social gathering places in Middle Eastern countries since the 16th century. They became popular in Europe with the introduction of coffee in the 17th century. In England, where coffeehouses were open to all regardless of social status, they became identified with equality and republicanism. Eventually they became meeting places for businessmen. Lloyd’s of London began in a coffeehouse where underwriters of ship insurance met to do business.

So maybe Starbucks could become a clearinghouse for North American energy issues. Of course, it might seem odd complaining about record retail gasoline prices of $3.209/gal while quaffing coffee priced at the equivalent of $28/gal. But then how often do any of us buy coffee in 10-20 gal lots?