Proof that sometimes it really isn't the copywriter's fault.

A very interesting and important article over at Fast Company on how Memorial Day has lost it's meaning—and how we can help renew it by having advertisers and brands focus on country over commerce for one day.

My grandpa McElroy fought in World War II and my Grandpa Johnson was in the Korean War. Both are great men who were lucky to survive. But many didn't. On Memorial Day, let's remember that it's not just a day to camp or fish or BBQ. It's a day to solemnly remember those who fought—and died—so we have the freedom to do those things.

Make sure to check out the article, and the other ones in the series.

Starbucks is making moves to leverage its subsidiary brand, Seattle's Best Coffee, to capture more market share. Seattle's Best is considered a "more approachable taste profile for a mainstream market" by CEO Howard Schultz.

Translation: Seattle's Best is safe and bland.

Apparently they decided to translate these characteristics into their new logo. Well done.

On a side note, I wonder if Target is pissed that Seattle's Best is stealing their brand flavor...

Why You Are Not Drinking Nearly Enough Starbucks

Even Its Most Staunch Loyalists Drink Only 3 of Every 10 Cups at the Chain -- the Java Giant Intends to Fix That

By Emily Bryson York
Published: May 17, 2010

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Remember the days of two Starbucks stores on one corner in some cities? That was just the beginning. The brand that many experts said was all washed up two years ago is back, with two consecutive quarters of same-store-sales gains -- and it wants you to drink a lot more of its coffee.

Despite a seemingly ubiquitous presence with 11,000 coffeehouses, Starbucks estimates that it holds less than 5% of the brewed-coffee market in the U.S. So the company is looking for ways to get in on more of that business, whether it reaches people through fast-food chains, in their homes or at their desks. Even Starbucks' most loyal customers consume only three of every 10 cups they drink in Starbucks stores, and since there are about 40 billion servings of coffee sold in the U.S. every year, that leaves Starbucks plenty of cups to conquer. And the real action is in grocery: According to NPD Group, four in five cups of coffee are consumed at home.

"We have a lot of opportunity both domestically and globally," Starbucks Global CMO Annie Young-Scrivner said in an interview. "We're looking at brewed-coffee expansion and, definitely, 5% gives us room to expand."

To that end, Starbucks is leaning on additional brands, such as Seattle's Best Coffee, to fill in where its flagship cafés can't.

"At some point, you have to think that the Starbucks brand is getting itself overexposed," said Lynn Dornblaser, director-consumer package goods insight at Mintel International. "And if that's the case and they still want to grow market share, then they need to think very creatively about how they do that."

Three-pronged approach
During the recession, Starbucks' grocery-distributed bagged coffee suffered the first real sales decline in years. According to SymphonyIRI, sales fell 6% from last year to $199 million while the category was up 6% to $2.5 billion (the data doesn't include Walmart and club stores). Starbucks is responding with a three-pronged approach: launching Via in grocery stores, introducing flavored coffee and ramping up in-store promotions that have carryover benefits to the grocery business.

Ms. Young-Scrivner said that not only is Via performing ahead of expectations, but it's also being used in a variety of ways. Half of the Via serving occasions are at home, she said, while 25% are in the office, and the remaining quarter are consumed "on the go."

In partnership with Kraft, Starbucks will launch its first flavored coffees in supermarkets next month. The decision came after the company discovered that 60% of its bagged coffee buyers were either drinking flavored coffee or adding flavored creamer, but because Starbucks had no entry, it was "out of consideration," Ms. Young-Scrivner said. But 75% of those consumers said they'd buy a flavored product if Starbucks made it. The result, after more than two years of testing, is Natural Fusions, in vanilla, caramel and cinnamon. Marketing is still under wraps, but is expected to begin in the summer.

Starbucks has also taken more control of its grocery advertising, once handled primarily by joint venture and licensing partners. Mr. Davenport said the chain worked with Kraft to move its bagged-coffee business from DraftFCB, Chicago, to agency of record BBDO, New York.

Starbucks is trying to pump up Seattle's Best with a new look and tagline, "Great Coffee Everywhere," from agency of record Creature, Seattle. The brand will go from 3,000 points of distribution last year to more than 30,000 before the end of this year. Seattle's Best President Michelle Gass says the appetite for premium coffee is increasing, with 35% of consumers drinking it today, compared with 29% three years ago. Eventually Ms. Gass expects her coffee to show up in coffee carts and vending machines.

This is a genius ad campaign from Ford. Why? It's viral. It's funny. It taps into cultural trends. Most importantly it doesn't take itself to seriously. First we had the "Me" generation...is the "Zombie" generation next?

Amazon's just revealed its iPad Kindle reader version. The app will be available on other tablet PCs too, but the iPad is the hottest kid on the block, and it'll likely sell by the ton. Knowing this, we wonder: Did Amazon just kill its Kindle E-reader?

Amazon's getting wise to Apple tech, at last, and it even released a Kindle reader app for Macs last week--conceding that its erstwhile arch-rival Apple's computers are now a serious player in the consumer PC space. But the big reveal of "Kindle Apps For Tablet Computers" is a dead giveaway: It proves Amazon is afraid of Apple, because the company even felt the need to append "Including the iPad" at the end of that title.

The blurb about the app is straightforward, for the most part--noting that, just as for the other platforms the Kindle reader works on, Whispersync is still intact, and will keep track of where you are in a book, along with your notes and highlights, no matter which device you last used to read it with. It also explains that you can tweak the display settings and font size and color to optimize the reading experience--there's even a tiny little dig at the supposedly inferior-for-reading LCD tech that tablets use, since Amazon notes this display adjustability is to "ease eye strain." Subtext for this: "Our e-ink display is actually better."

But really, Amazon's most surprising sentence in the PR spiel is this one: "Get the best reading experience available on your tablet computer including the iPad. No Kindle required." Say what, Amazon? We don't need to buy your surprisingly expensive proprietary hardware, with its 1980's school calculator design, slow-updating gray-scale screen, and frightfully limited secondary tasks like Web browsing? Oh that's very generous of you. Thank goodness we can still read your e-books on a tablet PC, with color screen and improved imagery, the capability for really smart, dynamic, interactive e-book content thanks to better graphics powers, and the ability to also surf the Web, play games, make a Skype call, and watch a movie.

Even the graphic for the iPad's Kindle App front page gives the game away: Something as simple as choosing which of your Kindle titles to read is going to be much more satisfying on an iPad.

So is Amazon killing its own Kindle hardware? Almost...at least for the current generation of device. We've heard a few tantalizing rumors about the next-gen Kindle, which may be able to compete on technical grounds with at least some of the benefits offered by a Tablet PC. But the Kindle 4 is still ages away, and in the interim, Apple's likely to sew up the Tablet market with the iPad, and competing e-bookstores like Barnes and Noble's--also likely to be accessible via an iPad app--will make serious dents in Amazon's market dominance. And while Amazon's leading the e-ink e-reader charge, the competition will also likely suffer at Apple's hands. 2010 may indeed be the only year of the e-reader.

[Amazon]

To keep up with this news on your iPad, PC or even Kindle, follow me, Kit Eaton, on Twitter. That QR code on the left will take you to my Twitter feed too.

Related Stories: Amazon Kindle 2 Should Colleges Subsidize Print News, Or Switch to Kindle? Three Mobile Music Apps That Rule

Topics: Innovation, Technology, Kindle vs iPad, Amazon, Apple, iPad, Kindle, app, tablet PCs, Apple tablet, e-books, e-reader, e-publishing, Computer Technology, Arts, Entertainment, and Media, Tablet Computers, Electronic Books, Personal Computers

This is such a fun idea. Put another mark in the "Things I wish I'd Though Of" column.