ABSTRACT
In an episode of The Simpsons, 10-year-old Bart goes to the Springfield Mall to get his ear pierced. His friend Millhouse had sparked this latest fashion trend, garnering the adoration of fellow pupils, and Bart cannot stand being upstaged. As he walks through the mall, he passes one Starbucks after another, including a store that is clearly being renovated with a sign posted in the window saying: ‘Soon to open: Starbucks’. Finally reaching the piercing emporium, its owner asks Bart whether he is 18. Bart lies in the affirmative, and the owner then says: “Well, better make it quick, kiddo. In five minutes this place is becoming a Starbucks.” In the next scene Bart walks out of the store, his ear sporting a shiny stud, a satisfied smile on his face, carrying a cup of Starbucks coffee. While a humorous example, anxieties about the spread of multinational corporations into local spaces, and a more general homogenisation of cultures through the spread of mainly American commodities and ways of consuming, are of great concern. As a way into these sprawling and complex issues and anxieties, and with a little irony, we can term this the ‘Starbucks effect™’.
