[Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images]
Behold Dumb Starbucks, some sort of art thing happening in Los Feliz, California. As reported by SCPR, Dumb Starbucks looks exactly like a normal Starbucks, except it has the word "Dumb" in front of every appearance of the word "Starbucks" in the entire store. That means you can get you dumb espresso, dumb brewed coffee, and dumb half soy no whip mocha Frappuccino with a shot of caramel. There are even dumb fake Norah Jones CDs on display. Oh, and also they're giving away the coffee for free. That does sound dumb, from a business perspective. Anyway, as of yesterday, there was a one hour wait to get into Dumb Starbucks.
UPDATE 2/11: After it was revealed that Dumb Starbucks was the work of Comedy Central's Nathan Fielder, the Los Angeles County Health Department has shut it down for operating without a permit.
[Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images]
So is this even legal? Starbucks is known for going much smaller cases of copyright infringement than this. In December, Starbucks sent a Cease and Desist to a St Louis brewery selling a "Frappicino" beer. They've had ongoing legal issues with a New Hampshire coffee roaster that sells a Charbucks blend. And they sued a Bangkok coffee stand that goes by the name "Starbung." A spokesperson for the coffee behemoth told SCPR that they are "looking into" Dumb Starbucks.
Dumb Starbucks tweeted an FAQ addressing the legality of their project and have since removed it, possibly because Gawker talked to actual attorney who debunked their logic that Dumb Starbucks is protected under parody law. BuzzFeed has a screenshot of said FAQ.
It is very possible this is some sort of dumb TV thing. Gawker notes that among the first to post Dumb Starbucks on social media were Community creator Dan Harmon and comedian Rainn Wilson. Anyway, if you want your Dumb Starbucks, you better get down there quick before they get shut down by the man.
UPDATE 2/11: After it was revealed that Dumb Starbucks was the work of Comedy Central's Nathan Fielder, the Los Angeles County Health Department has shut it down for operating without a permit.
[Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images]
· 'Dumb Starbucks' mystery: Who's behind the faux coffee front in Los Feliz [SCPR]
· @dumbstarbucks [Twitter]
· All Starbucks Coverage on Eater [-E-]
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