WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – I’m sure you’ve seen those colorful, bright pink, blue, and purple Starbucks’ drinks all over the Internet recently, and if you’re like me, you’re really sick of them. The Unicorn Frappucino has taken social media by storm, and everyone is talking about them.
However, there have not been too many positive reviews on how it tastes; and yet, people disregard these reviews, and continue to purchase this gross drink. The two main flavors are vanilla and mango, and the powder they sprinkle on top is supposedly sour. It doesn’t even sound good, and yet people went crazy over them. Why would people do that? For the Instagram, of course.
This drink not only tastes bad, but it’s horrible for you. We all know Frappuccinos have quite a bit of sugar in them, but a Grande (medium) Unicorn Frapp contains 59 grams of sugar, and a Venti (large) contains 76 grams. Keep in mind that men are allowed around 38 grams daily, while women should only be eating 25 grams. So a few sips of this Unicorn Frappuccino, and you’re done for the day.
The saddest part about this drink is just how much the Starbuck baristas hate making it. All of the colors stain their hands, and some complained about the dye not coming off for days. A few employees even warned their customers to not waste their money, because of how bad the drink is. Clearly, people didn’t listen.
Social media is the most effective way to quickly market and sell products. It spreads news like wildfire and can reach people worldwide, in an instant. If you have a picture of your product go viral, your company will be set. Social media also changes the way that things are marketed, because appearance is much more important now than it was years ago. People are always taking pictures of their food and drinks, so businesses are keeping that in mind and making products whose beauty is worthy of an Instagram. Some people might even purchase it just to be relevant.
Starbucks’ biggest advantage with the unicorn drink was the power of social media. Personally, I saw that drink posted everywhere, all day, when it came out this past week. If people weren’t buying it, they were still talking about it. It was a really smart move for Starbucks, because their stock increased by 2% according to Business Insider. That’s what companies usually increase within a year. So basically, that means that this is huge. The amount of money made in just a few days made Starbucks’ stock switch from “hold” to “buy.” It’s such a crazy concept, that business boomed just because of a couple of pretty colors swirled into an excessively sweet drink.
This is just another example of just how easy it is to make money through the use of social networks. These platforms have changed the way people think and go about consuming products. It clearly didn’t matter when people were talking about how bad these unicorn drinks were. With social media changing social norms, we should expect to see trends like the Unicorn Frappuccino more often.
Learn more about refined sugar from The Daring Kitchen.
