On Harmless Addictions, or "Too Much of a Good Thing"

OK. We had to know that this was coming. The "Starbucks Effect" (variously defined and interpreted by consumers and the media as either a cause of increased traffic congestion and air pollution, an effective marketing model, or a catalyst for the growth of coffeehouses in general, among other theories: see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61460-2005Apr17.html, http://www.japaninc.net/article.php?articleID=1218 and http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_41/b3954091.htm) might need to brace itself for some hawkish backlash in the coming months--or maybe not, depending on how the company--and those of similar ilk--reacts to or spins the mounting attention paid to its youthful clientele's increasingly jittery coffee addiction (even if largely psychological; see http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0119_050119_ngm_caffeine.html).

This highly competitive (read: aggressive) and hugely successful coffee franchise has been so effective at exposing the finer points of excellent, gourmet-level joe to the masses while simultaneously attracting record numbers of youthful consumers (so grown up and sophisticated with their caramel-drizzled, whipped-creamy, super-grande mocha-frappé shake thing, with maybe a shot of coffee--oh, yeah, hook 'em young…)--and no small amount of on-target marketing--that they might have created their own monster. But Starbucks isn't alone--its purported "Effect" has helped spur the spread of many more similarly styled coffeehouses from coast to coast--it just did it first and better than everyone else.

Kids are smarter than we give them credit for (I'm entitled to at least one platitude a day…). Although sweet, blended drinks might have been the bait, that excellent coffee smell that pillows these coffeehouses for blocks in every direction inevitably lures young--and older--palates. Coffee drinking among the youth set has hit an all-time high and is attracting attention (see http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/spotlight/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002502519). It's cool and mature-looking--and that caffeine rush fits right in with the already-accelerated teenage mind. And the coffee just plain tastes good. Period. It's starting to get hard to remember the days when it was difficult to find a decent cup of coffee…

But even though caffeine is a rather milquetoasty drug in the grand scheme of things, toss in the words "children," "addiction" and "health," and we have the makings of a legislative, talking-head, media-frenzied hootenanny.

If history can teach us anything (that's rhetorical…), these coffeehouse companies might want to start some forward-thinking processes to consider how they market to children, analyze the caffeine levels in coffee drinks specifically targeted at youth among other potential issues (if they haven't already seen the writing on the wall). It's probably only a matter of time before this topic becomes a bigger flavor of the month.