Christian Group Calls For Boycott Over Titillating New Starbucks Logo [Logos]

According to the Star Tribune, Starbucks recently decided to resurrect its original bare-breasted mermaid logo, much to the dismay of the Christian group, "The Resistance," who is calling for a national boycott. The logo, based on a 16th Century Norse woodcut, will be on Starbucks cups for at least a few more weeks and will be the permanent logo for Pike Place bags of coffee. According to the Christian group, the logo "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," and that "the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks." We didn't even know that mermaids had legs. More, inside...



The article says,

The image is a less-revealing version of what the chain used for many years, starting when it first opened in Seattle in 1971. That original logo was resurrected in its Northwest outlets for a time in 2006 to mark the chain's 35th anniversary.

Company spokeswoman, Bridget Baker said the newly revived logo was "modified a bit [from the original] based on feedback" from Starbucks customers during its 2006 appearance. "We feel it's appropriate," she said. Howard Shultz, Starbucks' founder, said in his book, "That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be seductive as coffee itself."

We seriously doubt this logo is obscene enough to deter anyone from their morning cup. From what we know of coffee drinkers, still photos from German scheissen porn wouldn't separate them from their hot liquid crack.

Group finds Starbucks logo too hot to handle [Star Tribune]
(Photo: Star Tribune)

Disgruntled Northwest Airlink Flight Attendant Sets Fire Inside Plane [Disgruntled Employee]

According to the AP, 19 yr-old flight attendant Eder Rojas of Woodbury, Minn., was arrested on Wednesday for intentionally setting a fire inside a paper towel compartment in the rear bathroom of the plane. Rojas told officials that he was was upset at Compass Airlines for making him work that particular route. He allegedly boarded the plane that day with extra paper towels and a lighter. Details, inside...

The article says,

Compass is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines. Northwest spokesman Rob Laughlin said Rojas has been fired.

Rojas made his initial court appearance in Minneapolis on Thursday and was ordered held without bail pending another court date Monday, prosecutors said. The charge of setting fire aboard a civil aircraft carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

His public defender did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Authorities said Rojas asked for extra paper towels and tissue before the plane left Minneapolis. He allegedly took a lighter from another flight attendant's home earlier that day and had it with him when he went through the security checkpoint.

"Rojas further stated that he was preparing his cart to serve the passengers, he set the cart up, went back to the lavatory and reached in with his right hand and lit the paper towels with the lighter," court documents say.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Jordheim, who is prosecuting the case in Fargo, would not comment.

Pilot Steve Peterka told authorities that an indicator light came on about 35 minutes into the flight, showing smoke in the rear bathroom.

The court documents say Peterka called Rojas, who was assigned passengers in the back of the flight, and asked him to check the bathroom. Rojas, another flight attendant and a passenger were credited with quickly putting out the flames with fire extinguishers, authorities said.

Investigators later found a lighter in one of the overhead bins.

FBI agent Ralph Boelter said Compass Airlines officials showed "extraordinary cooperation" in the investigation.

Ever hear of calling in sick??

Flight attendant accused of setting fire on airplane [AP] (Thanks to Jeffrey!)

McDonald's: Drink What We Say Or No Free Southern Chicken Sandwich

Reader "Thunderpants" says that she was in McDonald's yesterday during their free chicken sandwich promotion. The deal: Buy a medium or large drink and the sandwich itself is on the house. For some reason, however, this particular McDonald's declared that only soft drink purchasers qualified for sandwiches. Nothing, not even a customer who claimed to have written the actual ad copy for the promotion, could convince them otherwise.

Yesterday, McDonald’s was giving away free southern-style chicken sandwiches if you purchased a medium or large drink. I went down to the location in my office building, where there were three lines. It was busy, but nowhere near riot status.

As I stood in line, I repeatedly heard the employees telling customers that purchasing a “Sweet Tea” didn’t count for the free sandwich. Some left, some rolled their eyes and ordered a “drink” instead, but all of them were pretty peeved about it.

As it happens, someone in the line ahead of me worked for the ad agency that McDonald’s uses and said she WROTE THE AD COPY. She asked to talk to the manager, because she said that Sweet Tea was part of the promotion.

They made her wait. By the time I had ordered and was waiting for my food, two managers came out from the back looking decidedly hostile. When the ad exec tried to explain the ad to them, they immediately cut her off and shouted “No, No, No” and pretty much told her to get lost.

My curiosity was piqued, so I called McDonald’s customer service hotline to find out who was right. Guess what? The managers were completely wrong. The CSR told me “you could buy a milk chug and get a free sandwich. Any drink!” She offered me free coupons for more chicken sandwiches, but I declined because I didn’t want to give my name and address, especially since I wasn’t directly involved.

So, BOO to the local franchise managers, but way to go Customer Service Rep.

Sincerely,

Thunderpants

Nice investigative reporting, Thunderpants. It's good to know that ad agency people are forces for justice, trying to keep McDonald's honest, but it's too bad they didn't listen to her.

Meet Crissy, The High Priestess Of Coupon Clippers [Coupons]

Crissy Thompson (pictured left) is among the coupon clipping elite. 11Alive News followed her around one day to learn some of her secrets. At a local Publix, Crissy managed to get two-thirds off her grocery bill and at CVS picked up $140 worth of goods for $5. Often, she spends only $10 a week on groceries and that's with 3 kids and a husband. Check out some of her techniques and her favorite coupon web sites, inside...

Crissy's incredible results don't come without preparation. She usually spends an hour week getting prepared for her shopping trip which takes her 3 to 4 hours and includes 3 to 7 local stores.

Like any good soldier, Crissy starts by gathering her ammunition. She does this by buying 2 copies of the Sunday double paper which renders 4 sets of coupons. Next she hits her favorite web sites which include: gottadeal.com and hotcouponworld.com

Crissy decided to show the news crew a sampling of what she does and they proceeded to hit CVS and a Publix, two of her favorite stores.

At Publix, Crissy made good use of the buy 1 get 1 free coupons. Most grocery stores will also let you buy just one item and get 50% off. If you can then pair a coupon with that you can get the item for free or next to nothing.

Crissy also explained that when a coupon reads "1 coupon per purchase" you are not actually limited to using it only once. For example she took 2 boxes of cereal that were buy 1 get 1 free for $3.79 a box. Crissy also had 2, $3 off coupons to go with each of the boxes of cereal. Crissy made over $2 on the cereal. At checkout Crissy's total was $15.38, she saved $36.22.

Next they went to CVS. Crissy says the best deals there are coupons and Extra Care Bucks. Extra Care Bucks are given on specially marked items. You receive the bucks at checkout and use them on a following purchase. Most people would simply use these Extra Care Bucks the next time they came to the store, or forget about them altogether. However, Crissy uses them the same visit by splitting up her purchase into separate transactions.

They arrived at the checkout counter where Crissy proceeded to split her checkout into 5 transactions. She took the Extra Care Bucks from each transaction and applied it to each following transaction. Apparently, CVS has no problem doing this for Crissy. All said and done, Crissy bought approximately $140 worth of merchandise for under $5. Crazy, huh?

It looks like the Crissy-craze is catching on, she will even have her own website soon. What are your favorite little-known coupon tricks?

If I Didn't See It With my Own Eyes [11 Alive] (Thanks to Josh!)