The annual return of Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte has replaced the fall equinox as the unofficial harbinger of autumn. The chilly slap of September wind is supplanted by the bitter aroma of grounded coffee beans in a temperate Starbucks café. This year, their Pumpkin Spice Latte was released on August 25, almost a month before the autumn equinox on September 22. Yet the workings of nature do not prevent the illusion of crisp air and red-tinged maple leaves from arising upon leaving Starbucks with a lukewarm Pumpkin Spice Latte and entering into the sweltering heat of late-August. It is difficult to explain the deceptive effect that the Pumpkin Spice Latte possesses over the consumer’s perception of the fall season. After all, the latte predominantly consists of a blend of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, clove) and artificial orange colouring (with pumpkin puree making up five percent of the sauce—score!). Instead, the impression of autumn is cultivated by the autumn themed café, along with the chipper yet repetitive “Hellos” and “How are you doing?” of the baristas, persuading customers into imagining that they have stepped into the set of Gilmore Girls where autumn is perpetual and everything is warm and cozy.
Starbucks’ effort to brand Pumpkin Spice Lattes—and the myriad of pumpkin spice-related drinks that succeeded it—as synonymous to the fall season has been a wildly successful and even more profitable venture. According to a Forbes calculation from 2015, Pumpkin Spice Lattes pulled in $100 million in revenue during their limited release. The concept of pumpkin spice has been so irresistible to consumers since the launch of the Pumpkin Spice Latte by Starbucks in 2003 that it inspired an upsurge of pumpkin spice flavoured products, which adorn the shelves of major grocery chains and the menus of fast-food restaurants every August. The infatuation with the autumnal flavour demonstrates the inanity of modern capitalism and contemporary consumer culture. Starbucks’s triumph with pumpkin spice stems from the successful commercialization and commodification of the fall season rather than the merits of the drink itself. Consumers are conditioned to believe that autumn is incomplete without a daily dose of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. A stroll in the autumn-stricken park would lack its romantic aura without it and an apple-picking outing would lack its usual vivacity without the autumn-themed drink. Starbucks’ use of aesthetic imagery is a popular marketing strategy geared toward adolescent and young adult consumers.Consumable goods are categorized not based on their function, but rather by the imagery and aesthetic that they represent. To purchase a Pumpkin Spice Latte is a cultural statement as well as a symbol of one’s chosen identity.
Starbucks’ hyper-focus on marketing the Pumpkin Spice Latte involves the use of rampant social media campaigns in order to create brand awareness. The official Twitter account dedicated to the drink has 96,600 followers as of September 2020; it regularly posts texts, autumn-themed stock photos, and tweets that anthropomorphize the Pumpkin Spice Latte. The lack of attention to the taste and composition (again, only five percent of the Pumpkin Spice sauce is real pumpkin) of the drink reveals that its popularity has never been about its flavour. Along with the drink’s association with pleasing autumnal imagery, the seasonality of the drink creates a sense of urgency in order to compel consumers to purchase the product before it is gone. In reality, Pumpkin Spice Lattes could be available all-year-round due to their reliance on spices rather than the seasonal pumpkin itself. However, the rarity of the product creates an ever-moving target for consumers to spend on in order to keep up with ever-changing cultural trends. Consumerism is not an inherently evil concept; the practice only becomes problematic in excess. Excess consumerism describes the purchase of material goods that are unneeded, or at least unneeded before a current trend and a surplus of targeted ads convince consumers otherwise. While some may claim that any food consumed cannot be regarded as excess consumption, the overdose of social media campaigns tells a different story.
While Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte is just a small display of the consumer-driven world we currently live in, its popularity is a prime example of excess consumerism and the dominating influence of marketing campaigns. As we head into the winter months studded with commodified holidays, it is important to ask yourself: do I really need this product or am I simply conditioned to want it?
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