The idea of "Suspended Coffee" is simple: When you buy yourself a coffee at a participating cafe, you also pay for a second one - which can then be claimed by someone who cannot afford it themselves.
They don't have to "prove" anything to claim one, but the scheme relies on the good faith of everyone involved.
I blame the Italians.
be better if they did suspended sandwiches or something, surely ?
let them eat biscotti 😉
Fantastic bit of viral marketing. Let's be honest, the welfare of the people who can't afford their coffee was not the primary motivation..
The cynic in me thinks it will just boost the shops profits
The price of a coffee is frikkin ridiculous. The shop should at least give the second one half price or something.
Where do they do this? I fancy a free coffee 😉
💡 Why not just buy a coffee / food and go give it to someone in need on the streets, human contact is a neat idea 💡
Its a genius bit of marketing from one of the big coffee chains.
Surely if you are so fiscally ****ed that you can't even afford a cup of coffee, going to Starbucks and having a cup of coffee is going to be fairly low in your list of priorities?
It may be that many people have this idea in their head that it will be loads of cold, homeless people who will be benefiting from their kindness, but that's probably not the case.
Presumably there are groups of people out there who think that a cup of coffee is the the most important thing you can give your fellow man when he's on his uppers.
Rather than something that might save their life like a sandwich or an iPad.
I think they'd appreciate suspended white lightning an bit more... 🙂
Presumably the shop gets two lots of profit out of this as well?
Think it's a crap idea, if I see someone freezing in the cold and homeless they'll get the cash. I don't give a toss if they choose to spend it on coffee or crack.
Let me get this right, you want me to pay £50 for a double choco-lotto-latte and then pay another £50 on the off chance that someone down on their luck needs warming up when it probably costs the establishment themselves about 20p to make the thing, yet they won't give a couple away.
Nice idea, but as much as the thought of helping people will give folk a warm fuzzy feeling with their brew, I don't think it deserves this level of publicity at all.
This, on the other hand, is a fantastic way for a business to make a difference and I hope it spreads. Tasty food too.
[url= http://www.social-bite.co.uk/ ]http://www.social-bite.co.uk/[/url]
Social Bite prepares hand made food every day, using fresh, healthy and local produce. No sell by dates. No preservatives. Just the best local ingredients, served up daily. Our food is competitively priced, offering outstanding value for money.But the main difference between social bite and the rest is that 100% (every single penny) of profit goes towards solving social problems. This is not a token gesture. This is not a PR spin. This is just a different kind of business. A business to help others. This is a Social Business.
"Shelter Scotland
Every 2 minutes someone faces losing their home in Scotland. The economic crisis has only deepened the ongoing problem of homelessness. Shelter believe that everyone deserves to have a home. Shelter Scotland help the homeless find and keep a home, and campaign for decent housing for all. The profit from this sandwich helps to support the work that SHelter do in helping the most vulnerable people in our society. "
So does that mean every two minutes, someone in Scotland loses their home? Surely that means by next Thursday, no-one in Scotland will have a home.
Edit: 19 years. if you live in Scotland, all you've got is 19 years before you're out on your arse.
Hmm I can't imagine the usual coffee shop crowd being too pleased when the local homeless start turning up for their free coffee.
Aye, the two minutes statistic is a little alarming and lacking a reference to back it up.
19 years. if you live in Scotland, all you've got is 19 years before you're out on your arse.
At least everyone will have a suspended coffee waiting for them when their lives falls apart and they are out on the streets. That'll make it all better 🙄
2 things:
Once I went to China Town, order too much and took a doggie bag back to the neareast placard wealding tramp at Kings Cross station, only to have it thrown back at me
and
Last year (on exit from my tube to work) I bought [i]2[/i] bacon rolls with a view to giving one to the guy who always hovers outside the exit asking for food, only to watch him answer a call on his iphone as I walked up to him.
Waiting for the guy behind me to ask for a triple latte with vanilla essence and a muffin for free? er piss off.
Every 2 minutes someone faces losing their home in Scotland
It's probably based on mortgage default. Perhaps they mean that you [i]could[/i] technically lose your home because you've defaulted, rather than the bank have actually sought a court order to sell your home.
"Shelter Scotland
Every 2 minutes someone faces losing their home in Scotland . . . "
The key word here is [u]faces[/u] . . . doesn't mean that someone actually loses their home every 2 minutes, just means someone thinks about it. Clever copy writer at the advertising agency using statistics to suit their agenda.
Another statistic suggests that the majority of people with a mortgage are only three pay packets away from being homeless (ie lose job, don't pay mortgage for 3 months, out on your ear) . . . on the basis of that statistic most of us should be contemplating losing our homes.
The regular tramps where I live seem to do OK.
They get constant donations of food as people leave Budgens and are donned in last season's Berghaus jackets and tog 16 sleeping bags. They'd probably turn their noses up at a Costa coffee.
The regular tramps where I live seem to do OK.
how about the irregular ones.?
thread needed' Best Place to be a Tramp ......
Daft idea imo. Put a collection box for a charity at the till.
Or, change the sign, so it says 'suspended coffee*' and the footnote can say '* or charitable donation of equivalent value'. Then the shop can put all the £2.50s into a proper donation to an organised homeless charity at the end of the month.
Will the shop pay tax on unearned income for any bought but not 'claimed'.
or
What if some unscrupulous shop managers used it as a means to boost profit eg. sorry mate no-one has 'suspended' any today?
Utter bollox dreamed up by a marketing ****
how about the irregular ones.?
the regulars are very territorial for obvious reasons. irregulars quickly move on.
This lot will give free pizza to homeless people if they come into their shop to ask.
http://www.karmafreepizza.com/
I used to see a woman buy a homeless bloke his breakfast every day when I worked in central London which I thought was really good of her. On the other hand, organised "buy one, buy one for someone less fortunate" screams of marketing scam to me. Perhaps if the other one came with a free sandwich or muffin too so the retailer had to contribute something too Id feel better.
a quick read shows that it's a bit more involved than free coffees and there are matching contributions to charitable organisations in place with Starbucks, for example.
I wonder how 'tax efficient' that is 🙄there are matching contributions to charitable organisations in place with Starbucks, for example.
Waiting for the guy behind me to ask for a triple latte with vanilla essence and a muffin for free? er piss off.
+1 -- If Star****s paid their tax and we'd all get a free coffee
This. Now please tell all the mugs on FB this so they stop posting it on their timeline.On the other hand, organised "buy one, buy one for someone less fortunate" screams of marketing scam to me.
without any direct evidence of which company is behind this, it will continue to gain momentum.
a quick google, shows BBC, Huffington Post, Independant etc as having run the story..... even this thread title, while up on p1 doesnt show the feeling about its validity.
scam.