Gawker
Ethiopia doesn't have the world's most sterling reputation. Many people think of "famine" and "drought" when the country's name is mentioned. But the Ethiopians are lucky, in the sense that Starbucks has forged a connection between the parched and war-torn nation in northern Africa and yuppie coffee swillers across America who just adore the subtle fruity undertones of the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe blend. So the country went to a branding firm to come up with a logo to stick on all of its coffee, to make people think of it as more of a luxury item. The logo is pictured. It looks like it should be in lime green on the side of can of a new and exotic type of energy drink. Instead, it's on the oldest energy drink ever. The kind that comes from Ethiopia (and is not qat)! We wish the country well in its yuppie-swindling mission, but we would have gone with a logo that's a little more cutting edge, with both hipster appeal and a strong connection to Ethiopian history. Like this:
[via WSJ]
Comments
Americans love subtle fruits.
and there, hamilton. you just broke my ethiopian heart.
If it works for Juan Valdez, surely it will work for Haile Sellasee.
Yirgacheffe: Taste the Violence
If we're making stock assessments of Ethiopia, let me add that its women are beautiful.
Hamilton, Beardo is not a suitable PR reference.
Wow, that logo is edgy....
Am I searching the web with jenuwine Microsoft Ethiopians?
@sosina: I would still like to go to Shashamane one day.
I believe that Midol already had the trademark on that logo.
Funny thing is - if you actually go to Africa, you can't get a decent cup of coffee as it's all for export so you get stuck with instant a lot. It's what I really hate about third world travel.
Qat is really great by the way. Especially with bubblegum.
If the new logo doesn't make me think of luxury the burlap sack will.
Uh, Ethiopia... Bill Gates is on line one...
I always thought Yirgacheffe literally tastes like vomit. Same thing with Grolsch beer.
You know what would help Ethiopia? Waterfront property.
I think Abba should go to Addis Ababa and tell the tales of Ali Baba with Baba Wawa and Kiri te Kanawa as a little Jawa.
+ Energy Biscuit
@In Other News...: ...while selling java at the local Wawa.
I guess that Pac-Man likes subtle fruity undertones too.
I tried Ethiopian food for the first time last night. Starvation is preferred.
Also, tangentially, Mozambique incorporates the AK in its flag as a symbol of revolution.
Because of the Italian occupation, Ethiopia and Eritrea are two places in Africa where you can get a good cup of coffee. I've been in small towns in the north that were proud of their espresso machine.
Yes, there is poverty in Ethiopia, but I've traveled all over the country and have never had a problem. I'd much rather be sitting in a bar in Axum than in our meatpacking district on a Saturday night.
@KimGordonsPanties: That was tasteless.
People pay big money for coffee beans that are shit out by animals. Why not Ethiopians?
@In Other News...: News, You tickle my fancy something awful.
Looks like something you'd find stamped on a tab of Ecstasy.
@smithhimself: I'm glad that European imperialism has an upside. Do they have good cannoli, too?
@SlickaNicka: The baguettes in Djibouti are supposed to be spectacular.
@SlickaNicka: "I like my women like I like my coffee - covered in bees!!!"
@In Other News...: Now you're just showing off, love.
@NinaHagen: I heard the recent civil war was started by pastry separatists who disagreed with Ethiopia's longstanding butter versus cream mandates. Makes sense now.
@In Other News...: But if they are Africanized bees, you are in great trouble, my friend!
@NinaHagen: You can get a mean mean croissant in Addis too, although Ethiopia technically was never colonized - the only (one of the only?) African countries to be able to make such a claim. It was occupied by the Italians during WWII, but they weren't interested in staying put - no rubber, no gum, no oil, just a lot of
In fairness, Ethiopia is less war-torn than any of its neighbors, and a good deal of the starvation had to do with crappy government policy in the mid-Eighties in the post-Selassie transition. It's a pity, too, the food is damn fine.
Wanna read a really interesting book about Ethiopia? Try The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński. It's about Haile Selassie. It contains really mind-boggling anecdotes such as "why couldn't those nosy aid workers have left the peasants to starve to death in peace?"
Mr. Nolan, for your next assignments, work qaid, qoph, faqir, sheqel, qindar, and qwerty into a post.
@EvelynWasAMan: whoa there fingers. must still have the shakes from last night - that was a mean croissant, not an evil one like i suggested. and no oil, just ravines.
They should've stuck with a Lion of Judah:
[en.wikipedia.org]
@Unfun: I made a promise to Kiri te Kanawa a long time ago...
@SlickaNicka: Just Eritrea home, okay?
I knew that yuppie coffee swillers and a new logo were the answer to Ethiopia's problems. I think.
@Hamilton: Really? Shashemene? but it is a sad sad little town with nothing to see/do except hanging out with Rastas who just sit around smoking all...uh..never mind, I see the appeal.
@EvelynWasAMan: great screen name.
I was working in Starbucks when some hipster-dweeb thought he'd go apeshit on us and started lecturing us about our Sulawesi coffee (I've been to Sulawesi, fyi). Once he'd got his human rights rant over with, he ordered (of all things) an Ethiopian coffee. So I got to lecture him, at twice his word count, about the oppressions upon the Etritreans. This was before the separation, but it was still sweet.
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