Romance, Self Worth, or Family: Which Do You Choose?

Amanda Myers

Oakland University

Faculty Sponsor: Rebekah Farrugia

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When you think of Valentine’s Day, do you picture a box of heart shaped chocolates?

How about a card with a silhouetted couple walking hand-in-hand? If so, this is not shocking

because Valentine’s Day floods the market with ads focused on romantic relationships. This

focus on romantic relationships is due to a common ideology held by our society; romantic love

is the most important love. This ideology can be grievous to those who are not in romantic

relationships. It was reported that, “…the Missouri Suicide Crisis Hotline says that they get up to

50% more calls on Valentine’s Day than they do on regular days in the year” (Moss, 2017).

Thankfully, some companies are advertising the holiday in other ways than focusing on romantic

love. Starbucks is one of these companies. In two of its Facebook ads, Starbucks uses

Valentine’s Day to sell both its product and its brand to the general population. It does so by

challenging the ideology that romantic love is worth celebrating over all other types of love.

In Starbucks’ Valentine’s Day Cherry Mocha ad, a young female African American is

placed front and center in the photo, where she is standing outside holding a raindrop covered

umbrella over her head. She is looking up and off to her right and appears to be beaming with

happiness and confidence; this is indicated by her large smile, upward lifted chin, and sunlight

shinning down on her right side, illuminating her face. She is holding a Starbucks cup with the

word “ME” capitalized and with a heart drawn next to it. Both appear to be hand drawn and are

located at the top of the cup, where Starbucks baristas typically label the customer’s name.

Above the photo, a poem states, “Cherries are red, roses are too. Take a quick moment to

celebrate you.” Two red hearts are placed after the poem along with the hashtag

“#CherryMocha”. The Starbucks logo is placed directly above the poem.

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Looking at this ad, there are numerous indications that the concept of self love is used to

sell Starbucks’ product. The caption explicitly states to “… celebrate you” in recognition of

Valentine’s Day. Among the numerous subtextual components, there are some with paramount

importance. For example, as previously mentioned, the woman is looking up at the sky with

radiating happiness while standing in the rain under an umbrella. This symbolizes her ability to

withstand any challenges that come her way, even with optimism and joy. Because the viewers’

eyes are quickly drawn to the Starbucks cup in the woman’s hand, the ad directly links the

concepts of happiness and self assurance to Starbucks’ product. Essentially, the ad is saying

both, “Drink a cherry mocha and celebrate the confident, happy you!” and “Drink a cherry

mocha and you can become this confident and happy, too!”

Another important component of this ad is that the woman is clothed in various shades of

purple, a color associated with royalty and status, and her sweater appears to be soft and

fashionable. This is important for two reasons. First, it suggests that the woman maintains the

concept of self worth; she believes she deserves to have both beauty and comfort in her life. This

concept is then linked to the Starbucks cup she’s holding. Recognizing this, the viewer of the ad

is essentially instructed to purchase the cherry mocha, as form of celebration, if they have any

sense of self worth. Second, the woman’s elements of status—leisure and fashion—is something

most people can relate to by already holding high status or desiring to obtain it. This continues to

support the claim that Starbucks is selling its product to the general population.

Lastly, there are two more aspects of the ad worth exploring. Both illustrate that

Starbucks’ target audience is the general population and that the notion of self love is used to sell

the product. The first example is that the woman is wearing a ring on both of her ring fingers.

The rings appear to be nontraditional and simplistic by not having diamonds or gems. This

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creates curiosity and uncertainty regarding the woman’s marital status—Is she married, engaged,

or just wearing accessories? This sense of uncertainty allows any viewer to relate to the woman.

In essence the ad states that regardless of your relationship status, your love of self is equally, or

possibly even more, important as celebrating romantic love. The other detail worth addressing is

that the word “ME” with a heart placed after it is used to label the cup, as mentioned earlier. This

implies that anyone can be this woman because anyone can insert their name into the label,

further reinforcing that Starbucks is selling to the general population.

In the other Starbucks Valentine’s Day ad, a black and white photograph of a baby boy,

his mother, and grandmother is displayed. The child is sitting on a table with his mother to his

left and grandmother to his right. Both women are physically supporting him at his abdomen,

most likely because he’s too young and lacking the strength to sit unsupported without falling

over. He’s close to being in the center of the photo, but his body is angled and shifted towards

his grandmother off to his right, which places them in very close proximity to each other. The

grandmother has closed eyes and pursed lips that are about to kiss the child’s cheek, and her

hand supporting him looks enormous as it covers his abdomen and part of his chest. The child is

looking away from the camera while his mother is looking directly at the camera; she appears

relaxed, as sunshine highlights her face and hair with soft lighting, and happy as she looks at the

camera with a smiling face.

It is only after looking at each of these individuals that you notice a white paper cup

placed directly in front of the mother, making it the closest object in the photo to the viewer. The

cup is turned to the side so that only a very small, blurry portion of the Starbucks logo is

showing. In fact, the only sure way of knowing this ad is for Starbucks is because the company’s

logo is placed at the top of the page. A caption under the logo reads, “Love is connecting

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generations (and continents). Mother-in-law Rosemary came from Australia to visit Emma and

baby Yves for a day of shopping.”

In this ad, Starbucks is selling its brand to the general population by using the concept of

familial love. An explicit example of this is in the caption. The caption first states that, “Love is

connecting generations (and continents)”, thereby linking the ad to the holiday with its use of the

word “love” and the timing of it being posted on Valentine’s Day. The second portion of the

caption explains that the grandmother traveled across continents to see her family; this

emphasizes how much she loves them and what lengths she’ll go to see them. This concept of

familial love is then connected to the Starbucks brand because the family chose to celebrate

Valentine’s Day at Starbucks over all other places, illustrating the brand’s importance within the

family.

Familial love is also depicted by the emphasis placed on the child. The viewers of the ad

are drawn to him because he is placed at the forefront of the photo with sunlight shining onto his

head, enhancing his significance. This matters because everything in the photo revolves around

him with the purpose to showcase emotions and interactions formed within families. These

family interactions and emotions are highly relatable, which supports the claim that the general

population is the target audience for the ad. Additionally, it’s worth noting that the child’s

significance is also enhanced by the fact that the women’s fingers intersect at the child’s

abdomen where they’re supporting him; the child is literally connecting the women, just as he’s

symbolically connecting the general population to the Starbucks brand.

An example of the child evoking these relatable familial emotions is portrayed through

the grandmother. Her love for the child is illustrated through her body language; she’s closest to

him in proximity, her body is facing him rather than forward at the camera, and she’s providing

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most of his physical support. It’s important to note that this symbolizes her willingness to

provide support—both physically but especially emotionally— throughout his life; the adoration

and tenderness held on her face for the child will continue to grow as he does. Additionally,

positioning the child looking forward, as if into the future, with a look of curiosity and possibly a

hint of anticipation, further supports this assertion.

This portrayal of grandmotherly love magnifies the claim that the target population is the

general population for this ad. It does so by highlighting a relationship not typically focused on

in the media, especially on Valentine’s Day, to remind the viewer that everyone has a reason to

celebrate the holiday, even grandparents who may be widowed, because they have family whom

they love and cherish.

Another example of the child evoking relatable familial interactions and emotions is

portrayed through the mother. While the grandmother is actively engaged with the child, the

mother is passively involved, yet she appears perfectly happy with the situation and does not

want to interfere with the grandmother-grandson bonding. Because she doesn’t want to interfere,

the mother is only minimally touching her son and is possibly about to hand him over entirely to

the grandmother. This illustrates that she trusts her mother-in-law with her child and wants them

to be involved in each other’s lives. Additionally, the mother is the only person looking at the

camera, and she’s doing so with a smile, direct eye contact, and upright posture. All of these

observations indicate that she’s confident, happy, and proud to witness the love between her

family members.

The happiness and pride depicted by the mother is also an aspect of familial love that

many people in the general population can relate to. Such happiness and pride does not only

come from a mother watching her child bond with her own parents or in-laws, but it can also

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come from a father witnessing the same bond occurring among his child and any of the father’s

family members or friends. Even an aunt or uncle can find happiness watching their significant

other and niece or nephew interact with each other. Because there are numerous ways for

positive emotions to be elicited within family bonds, this ad becomes relatable and sellable to the

general population.

Unlike the Cherry Mocha ad, Starbucks uses a minimalistic technique to sell its brand in

this ad. Rather than adding color and playful symbols related to Valentine’s Day, it draws on

emotion and how relatable those emotions are in order to sell its brand; Starbucks knew the

concept of familial love is inherently valuable to the average person and could therefore stand

alone to sell any of its products and its brand. This is similar to the tactics used to sell high class

items using minimalism in ads. Berger (2015) points out in Ads, Fads, & Consumer Culture

regarding a Bottega Veneta ad, “… This [ad] plays upon the aesthetic codes of elite classes:

simplicity is tied to upscale taste” (p. 21). Although the average American is not part of the elite

class, Starbucks recognizes that familial love is just as desirable as obtaining high social class to

the average American.

While Starbucks uses different types of love as an advertising strategy in its Valentine’s

Day ads, both ads aim to challenge society’s ideology that romantic love is the most important

love. It appears to do so in the same manner that Lull (2015) describes in combating hegemony,

which is by allowing media imagery to “… eat away at hegemony… which fails when dominant

ideology is weaker than social resistance” (p.35). However, when considering this, one is faced

with questioning Starbucks’ intent—Is Starbucks trying to take part in social resistance or is the

company only trying to navigate through cluttered advertising?

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For instance, Ruskin and Schor (2005) describe how insidious advertising has become

and that it is proliferating “… into nearly every nook and cranny of life” (p. 21), leading to “Ad

creep—the spread of ads throughout social space and cultural institutions” (p. 21). To navigate

through this, companies must become more innovative with their advertising in order to capture

their target population’s attention. For Starbucks, that strategy involves creating a connection

with its customers. Starbucks’ director of Global Social Media explains, “If you just build

relationships on offers, it's a surface relationship. We take a deeper approach” (Brennan &

Schafer, 2010, p. 65).

Regardless of Starbucks’ intention, however, the company has experienced significant

success from building its brand based on deep relationships and cultivating a “…sacred

connection” (Brennan & Schafer, 2010, p. 56) with its customers. This is exemplified through

Starbucks being the number one brand retailer on Facebook and one of the most popular brand

channels on Youtube (Brennan & Schafer, 2010, p. 69). Furthermore, Starbucks has the greatest

number of stores worldwide in the coffee chain industry and produces the most revenue within

that industry (Statista, 2019). Describing this success, Starbucks’ CEO stated, “A key component

[of the strategy] was to actively engage customers in the digital world—extending authentic

human connections beyond the coffeehouse” (Brennan & Schafer, 2010, p. 57).

Bearing in mind Starbucks’ focus on “touching the customer” (Brennan & Schafer, 2010,

p. 57) to sell its brand and products, these two Valentine’s Day ads embody Starbucks’ strategy.

The ads do so by challenging the ideology that romantic love is most worthy of celebration over

all other types of love. By challenging this ideology, Starbucks is embracing those individuals

who feel shunned or dismissed from stereotypical Valentine’s Day celebrations while

simultaneously welcoming those who already embrace the holiday. Regardless of Starbucks’

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intention, this unique and deeper level approach to customer engagement is what has generated

Starbucks’ success as a company along with brand loyalty and satisfaction among its customers.

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References

Berger, A. A. (2015). Ads, Fads & Consumer Culture: Advertising’s impact on American

character & society. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Brennan, B., & Schafer, L. (2010). Branded! How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social

Media and Mobility. Ch. 4: Starbucks.

Lull, J. (2015). Hegemony. In G. Dines and J.M. Humez (Eds.), Gender, races, and class in

media. (4th ed.). (pp. 39-42). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

Moss, G. (2017, February 7). How to prevent Valentine’s Day depression in the office. Retrieved

from https://www.peoplehr.com/blog/2017/02/08/how-to-prevent-valentines-day-

depression-in-the-office/

Ruskin, G. & Schor, J. (2005) Every Nook and Cranny: The dangerous spread of

commercialized culture. Multinational Monitor. Jan/Feb, pp. 20-23

Statista. (2019). Starbucks—statistics & facts. Retrieved from

https://www.statista.com/topics1246/starbucks/

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