A short history: Starbucks owned upscale consumers. Then the recession hit. Upscale consumers disappeared. Starbucks weakened. McDonald's moved in to steal former Starbucks customers. Starbucks responded by going downscale. That seemed to work. Now: Starbucks plunges even further into hobodom.

Starbucks will begin selling its "Seattle's Best" brand of below-yuppie-grade coffee in Burger Kings. In Burger Kings. This way Starbucks can stick it to McD's, reach "real" Americans who would be naturally averse to things as fancy as a "Starbuck," and hobo up their hobo credentials all in one elegant move. And Burger King gets new coffee for you to sip with their soon-to-be released "funnel cake sticks." Everyone wins, particularly America.
[Pic: Flickr]