The article was thin on facts and read like wishful thinking. The key piece of info was that the unbranded stores had 1/3 the traffic of branded stores. From this the author concludes that people dislike the Starbucks brand? I would have thought the opposite!!!!
I agree. The author has an interesting theory, but he needs to dig up some real facts to support it.
As you point out, his solidest fact undermines his theory.
I wonder if there is a "brand backlash"? And if it's temporary, and linked to the recession? I think that within an individual's life, the power of brands goes down over time. Maybe as the author and his friends get older, they are feeling less compulsion from brands?
