A Seattle barista has become a one-woman marketing campaign for Via instant coffee

Barista Gabrielle Evans serves coffee bedecked in a necklace and earrings made from Via packets to help her store win a Via sales contest. A four-year Starbucks employee, she's in college now but dreams of someday working for corporate. || IN DEFENSE OF VIA: The instant coffee has been bashed on this site, but I'm appreciating it while in Amsterdam, where there's no Starbucks (except at the airport). The hotel bathroom water is hot enough to make a decent cup of coffee, and save me from the 10 euro room-service coffee. Read "As Starbucks brand slips, a barista creates marketing magic"

Comments

[colin]

Nicely said Jamison, very well put. We r lucky to work for a company that cares and is trying to make things better.

[green_cup]

green_cup,

stop with the "subtle" fat hate. seriously. grow up.

Posted by: maggiemunkee | March 26, 2009 at 04:10 PM

I have no idea what you're even talking about...

[Hot Joe]

Are they selling the Via in stores now?

[IC Lover]

She came up with a cute way to show her enthusiasm and amuse customers. Nothing wrong with that. I still have mixed feelings about Via and its success but the product is OK. And she's just having some fun. More power to her. It's always easier on the body and mind to do that vs. complain.

[(former) FLA SM]

"We r lucky to work for a company that cares and is trying to make things better."

Oh yes, they are trying to make things better... FOR THEMSELVES. Don't kid yourself, you don't matter one bit to them. You are just a number and that number can easily be subtracted from Starbucks. Ask any former ASM. Ask any other "partner" who was let go under the guise of Optimal Scheduling, even though they met the requirements. Ask any SM who eliminated when their store closed while other, less competent SMs were kept. Ask any of the SSC staff who were let go without any notice. Oh yeah, Starbucks REALLY cares.

[Iced Via Fan]

If you have not already done so try VIA iced! Its really, really good! Two packets of Via, 16 oz h2o and ice....perfection!

[Papi-LongO]

It's funny to see once FORMR FLASM turn after his departure from the Corp. He's the weakest link and it shows more and more everyday!!

Still bitter, I thought you were interested in your extended vaccation...what happened?

[Alex]

I think Gabrielle is beautiful.
Great to see someone having fun in this rough economy.
Well done.
Lay off people. Geez. Get a life--stop the personal attacks.

[Papi-SickO]

MAMI-GABI

you're the national VIA girl for this company you go girl make them dollars

[sbc-ol-skool]

Why in the world would you want to bring instant coffee to Europe? What a waste of weight to be carrying! And instant coffee and bathroom water just sounds disgusting period.

OMG, you are in Amsterdam!!! Get out of your hotel room and go out for some coffee, it's probably spelled koffie or koffee, but I am sure it is tons better than this VIA drink. Oh, BTW there are excellent marijuana bars that also serve coffee. I am sure your experience would be memorable if you had a cup of coffee there.

SBUX people, please think/go outside of the box sometime! You might be enlightened and see that there are so many better things outside of your box (SBUX).

[Moiraine]

Please no generalizations about Starbucks people being in the box. I love our coffee...but seriously? The Dutch have great coffee. I had the best cappuccinno of my life over there. :) Just because some people on here prefer VIA, doesn't mean there aren't plenty of others who want to drink dutch coffee.

As for the lady in the window...I admire her enthusiasm and I think some of the haters around here probably used to share it. Unfortunately Starbucks has burnt them up and out. Sad, but true.