A Satirical Starbucks

Nathan Fielder, a comedian, is the star of the hilariously awkward show Nathan For You. It's perfectly scripted show that's meant to seem like a reality show. Nathan Fielder plays himself and helps struggling small business owners with their evidently bad career ideas. About two years ago, he created a parody of Starbucks, and called it Dumb Starbucks. This parody coffee shop, also satirical, gained a surprising amount of popularity in its short lived time open. It became even more popular once the Dumb Starbucks Nathan For You episode aired. His business was the exact same as a regular Starbucks, selling all the same products, except with 'dumb' in front of the names. A satire is defined as "a form of literature that uses irony, sarcasm, parody, hyperbole, and other methods of ridicule and humor to criticize human institutions and human folly." The creation of Dumb Starbucks most definitely used humor and ridicule ("dumb") to strengthen its satirical punch.

The business, after about two weeks of being open, was closed due to not having the proper food management licenses. After all, it was open on a parody/museum permit, not fit for handling food. On the show, in order to create such a big parody that was Dumb Starbucks, Nathan wanted to gain some credibility in the visual art of parody world first. So, he opened a 'parody museum' and included many [disparaging] satirical alterations to well-known brands/logos. Again, hitting at consumerism and America's sense of brand loyalty. There's the obvious question of how this was ever legal- and the Dumb Starbucks corporation answered it simply in their FAQ. Q: "How is that legal?" A: "Short answer- parody law." Brilliant.



I believe that Nathan is creating a satire against American consumerism and brand-loyalty. Starbucks is so expensive, and there are probably better coffee shops out there, yet we all continue going because it is such a popular name-brand. And then when the parody of this brilliant brand opened, there were hour long waits to even get inside the store at times. Not only was the creation of Dumb Starbucks a satire, the entire show Nathan For You is arguably a satire. The show deals with popular topics,current politics, and corporations. The plot of Nathan For You is basically Nathan just making people uncomfortable and pushing these outrageous business ideas, which could easily be poking fun at dumb things and businesses that are big in our country.