Recently (5-6-12), I dropped by a Starbucks in Bellevue, and saw this pretty Tazo tea poster:

I like product posters that display a certain romance of the product.

I think it is a challenge for a brand as large as Starbucks to create interesting signs and marketing materials, but it can be done.  Probably someone at Starbucks worries, “Will people get it if the message is subtle?”  “Will we offend someone if we use unusual images?”  Take a look at this old 1997 poster, which I wrote about last year:  Coffee First poster.  That is a brave poster.  There is no way one could just swap another brand name on it and have it make sense.

The above Tazo poster dates from 2008, so it really isn’t all that old.  It looks like it was intended to be displayed inside Starbucks during January 2009.  That makes sense too.  In January 2009, Starbucks was promoting new tea drinks such as the Tazo London Fog, Tazo Chai Infusions, and the Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte.  The way the color and the images are put together on this poster, it has a certain tea romance.  It pulls you in and makes you think, “Which one of these teas is for me?”  Here’s the date on the bottom right corner of the poster:

And you might be asking yourself, “Where is this poster hanging now?”  I found this poster hanging in the women’s restroom of a Starbucks in Bellevue, Washington! (It was actually store #303, along N.E. Eighth Street.)  I happened to have my camera with me, and snapped a couple of photos!

Hope you like this poster as much as I do.  By the way, if you want more articles on Tazo tea, I have a category of Tazo articles here.

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$30.00 Starbucks gift card drawing:

I’ve done a number of contests on this blog, and I’m still working on trying to make them as smooth as possible!  I signed up at RandomPicker.com which is an online random drawing picker site.  In the past, I’ve literally filled out little cards and put them in a bag, and then pulled out a name.

I’d like to experiment with RandomPicker.com, which means I have to have a contest.  In order to enter this contest, you have to leave a comment that says what your favorite Tazo tea is.  Grand prize is a $30.00 gift card to be selected at random.  All comments must be received by June 7, 2012 at 11:00 p.m., PST.  The comment must be actually on the blog – an email to me is not an entry.  All entrants must be over 18.  No more than one entry per person.  I will count up to the first 75 valid entries, and after that, no further entries.

Don’t assume that because there are 75 comments that the contest is over.  I’ve learned from experience  that with all the conversations that happen in the thread that there will be a number of comments that are not valid entries.  I’m not sure if I’m going to have to type in entry names one by one into the RandomPicker.com, so I am limiting this to the first valid 75 entries.  And the winner – picked at random – wins a $30.00 gift card.  The winner must have a valid address in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Ireland, or the U.K.  There will be only one grand prize winner.

Your entry must indicate your favorite tea at Starbucks.  It is fine if you mention a seasonal Starbucks offering like the Joy tea, or limited test tea, like the iced peach green tea test.

Good luck!