VideoSift Clips of the Week

1. Dave
   November 14th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

   I'm with you, Alex. I refuse to order "venti" or "grande" or whatever else they call their drinks. It's small, medium or large; if the Starbuck behind the counter doesn't understand that, there are plenty of other places to spend too much on coffee.

2. Sofar
   November 14th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

   The guy behind the counter at Starbucks did not write the menu, nor set the prices, nor did he decide that Starbucks coffee beans must be burnt to a crisp. He pours coffee. That's his job.

3. Sofar
   November 14th, 2008 at 7:56 pm

   I really hope that woman is whom bought her kid the laptop. If so, awesome.

4. Alex
   November 14th, 2008 at 8:19 pm

   I think it's pretty clever of Starbucks to call their coffee "venti" or "tall" or whatever - I mean, that distracts their customers from realizing that they're paying beaucoup just a small/medium/large cup of coffee by calling it something else.

5. Miss Cellania
   November 14th, 2008 at 8:28 pm

   There are no Starbucks where I live, but everywhere I've traveled and ordered one, I order a large black coffee and they give me one with no argument. Not all Starbucks employees are stupid in three languages.

6. Miss Cellania
   November 14th, 2008 at 8:28 pm

   Hats off to the mama. I just hope she does NOT buy a replacement laptop.

7. sadtomato
   November 14th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

   Miss C, I can't believe there are no Starbucks where you live!! I live in Vancouver and we have Starbucks across the street from each other. You can always find one with less than a 5 minutes walk. Luckily we have lots of local coffee shops around too, they are much better!

8. Mouserz
   November 14th, 2008 at 8:41 pm

   now the kid should smash in her moms car windows.

9. Angstrom
   November 14th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

   the compression goes crazy on the mudslide one - try this link which has the magic fmt=18 bit on it

   http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=51C7vEAVbxk&fmt=18

10. Miss Cellania
    November 14th, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    sadtomato, Vancouver is a city. I don't live in a city! I live in a tiny town of about 8,000 people. We have a local coffee shop, which won't last long because people can get coffee at a diner for half as much.

11. Kelly
    November 14th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

    I didn't even watch the starbucks video, because they're all the same.
    I work there, and while it doesn't bother me in the slightest when people order their drinks as small/large/whatever out of habit, I find it ridiculous that people do it out of principle. There's no need to be so anti-establishment. It's just coffee.

12. Jenny
    November 14th, 2008 at 10:58 pm

    yeah the starbucks one is from role models:]

13. eskimosoap
    November 15th, 2008 at 12:05 am

    we had half of the starbucks shut down in my country.
    the city is a whole lot more interesting now
    but many friends lost their jobs within one day's notice
    so pants to starbucks.

14. Peeves
    November 15th, 2008 at 12:08 am

    That kid's voice..repeating the same thing in his pubescent authoritarian style..so annoying. While I tend not to devalue electronics like that and would have definitely taken it away. I admire her taking it in her own hands so to speak..must have been a final straw if that's the way he regularly acted. I bet that kid's beyond upset he lost all his angst poetry.

15. stormie24
    November 15th, 2008 at 12:22 am

    christmas is coming up and it's his way of saying 'I need a new bed...plz'

16. stormie24
    November 15th, 2008 at 12:26 am

    p.s. that kid probably deserved it, but maaybbbe a little harsh and I agree Miss.C - no replacements, haha

17. rebel w/o a cause
    November 15th, 2008 at 12:50 am

    What's really sad is the kid thinks 5 mins on his laptop is worth a) more than his mom's wishes, and b) angering his mom for. Kid got what he deserved.

    GO MOM! And yeah. NO REPLACEMENT!

18. lovemeordie236
    November 15th, 2008 at 1:26 am

    I wonder if they tell starbucks employees at their training to correct people who order as s/m/l or if they just do it out of douchebagginess...?

19. lovemeordie236
    November 15th, 2008 at 1:27 am

    Btw.. laptop fatality!

20. Harpe
    November 15th, 2008 at 2:02 am

    I work at Starbucks, and no they don't tell Starbucks employees to correct people; in fact they actively discourage it. No one I've ever worked with cares if people ask for a small/medium/large; I always did before I worked there. If you are ever asked if you meant grande or venti if you ordered a large, it is because sometimes customers say a large but really want a 'grande', and mention it when you give them a Venti. I assume they are just used to the medium/large/extra large menu items from other places. What I do ask about is what people mean when they order a regular coffee, as everyone seems to have a different opinion on whether it is a small or a medium.

21. Peeves
    November 15th, 2008 at 3:17 am

    I've never been corrected at Starbucks and I doubt they'd want to hurt their image by enforcing that. I do agree with a previous commenter that renaming sizes confuses people into not realizing how much they're paying for a cup.

    In my opinion though it's better than places that refuse to call anything small..starting with medium..where employees have actually asked me what I meant by 'small' or replying with 'medium? we have medium, large and extra large'. Now that is one of the most annoying marketing decisions ever.

22. Stabosaurus
    November 15th, 2008 at 4:08 am

    I don't know, man. Kids are going to argue with their parents. I think the mature course is to handle it without property damage.

23. ted
    November 15th, 2008 at 8:19 am

    Yes, take the laptop away from the kid. But smashing it on the front walk is just the tip of the iceberg for her anger management issues. It wouldn't be so funny if it were Dad reacting so violently.

    On the face of it, the kid may have deserved it, but that's stepping into Abusive Mom territory.

24. Edward
    November 15th, 2008 at 10:22 am

    Ever since the first computer rage video, I have been sceptically about property destruction caught on film. Without any lead in or a reason for the camera to be rolling in the first place, my conclusion is that this was staged with an already broken laptop.

25. Edward
    November 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am

    As for Starbucks, they have jumped the shark. Accounting tricks are the only reason they did not show a loss last quarter. Very shortly they will exist only provide fodder for jokes on "That 90's Show".

26. Edward
    November 15th, 2008 at 10:37 am

    Concerning rock waterfall: Whatever type of concrete was used to make that retaining wall, I want in my driveway.

27. Rocky Rook
    November 15th, 2008 at 11:33 am

    You're stupid in 3 languages ... that got me rolling!

    If that mom/kid argument was real, then that's white trash parenting. But I don't have teenagers yet, so maybe I don't fully understand.

    The dog one was the best though.

28. SB
    November 15th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    Destruction of the laptop was probably not the most mature way to handle a bratty teenager but damn it's funny. I like how that kid books it as soon as his mom looks at him.

29. heather
    November 15th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    Yeesh, I'd hate to see what happens when the dog acts up. That was a little excessive, destroying a $500-plus dollar laptop she probably bought for him because he wouldn't get off of it. I would have just takedn the battery

30. BlessedBlogger
    November 15th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

    I like the Starbucks caramel frappacino but I only get it one a month because it's a very unhealthy dessert (it's not coffee!) but I never get their coffee. It tastes like burnt old coffee grounds, yick.

    The mom who destroyed the laptop is demonstrating for us why the kid doesn't listen to her in the first place. When you act like a two year old throwing a tantrum how can anyone, let alone a child, respect you? She most likely paid for that comp so throwing it is really more a punishment for her than him and it sets a terrible example for her child.

    Thankfully, the puppy was a nice unicorn chaser

31. BlessedBlogger
    November 15th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    I'm surprised there's a town left in the world that doesn't have a Starbucks. We lived in a military town in the middle of the desert in California that was only 20 square miles, an hour to the next town, one movie theatre etc and we had 2 Starbucks.

32. NN
    November 15th, 2008 at 6:43 pm

    I can't watch the Starbucks video because every time I open the link some song starts playing and I can't figure out where it's coming from! >:(

33. YO
    November 15th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    That laptop lady is an idiot. I don't know if it's real though. What was it she wanted done now? How is breaking a laptop going to accomplish that? People, don't have kids if this is how you're gonna raise them.

34. JeffConn
    November 16th, 2008 at 2:14 am

    Justifiable. Sometimes need a taste of reality. And why couldn't the Starbucks near where i live have been the ones they are shutting down? For crying out loud, there are THREE Starbucks in the same mall in Norfolk!

35. JeffConn
    November 16th, 2008 at 2:14 am

    *edit* Justifiable. Sometimes KIDS need....

36. chudez
    November 16th, 2008 at 11:58 pm

    i have a daydream where i had the following dialog at a starbucks (sb)--

    me: a large cappucino, please.
    sb: you mean a venti?
    me: uhhh, large.
    sb: venti.
    me: large.
    sb: venti.
    me: large.
    sb: sir, venti means large in italian
    me: no, venti means twenty in italian. i do not want to buy twenty cappucinos.
    sb: .uhhh, ok. one large cappucino.

    -- then the line cleared up and i swallowed the marketingspeak just to expedite my cup of java.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT