Following up on last week's post about a Starbucks knockoff in Addis Abbaba, reader Jason Gull says,
I ran across this Starbucks knockoff in Santiago, Chile – not only is the sign's font and color virtually the same, but the fern-bar-with- coffee decor is a dead-ringer for the dreaded 'Bucks as well. (Come to think of it, the entire neighborhood of Las Condes looks like it could have been transplanted from suburban Virginia or Dallas or
Sacramento.) Situated not far from the U.S. embassy, apparently the continued non-ceasing and non-desisting of this place occasionally causes a bit of a stink in discussions of IP in Chile. A "real"
Starbucks just opened down the street, so perhaps the sparks of litigation will soon fly. Both places are going to have a tough time competing with Santiago's somewhat notorious "cafes con piernas,"
which translates to "cafes with legs," but might better be described as "caffeinated Hooters." These places, and this country, are not known for great coffee.
Previously: Starbucks knockoff in Ethiopia
Reader comment: S. Melmoth says,
There are numerous Starbucks-esque knockoffs in Korea, including Prowstar, for one. But since they merely serve coffee, that's all quite boring compared to….
the sex-related knockoffs!There's Starbutts, and better yet, Starfucks! Notice… it's better than porno… It's prono.
And Boing Boing reader Manish Vij adds,
India's knockoff of Starbucks is called Barista. It's very popular, but it's not an exact copy: the colors are blue and orange, and several locations have a guitar you can pick up and play. Link
Ian says,
We saw a "USABucks" coffee house with a starbucks-esque logo in Harbin, China. This link shows my friend Keisuke getting his pose on in front of it. There is something brutally honest about a name like USA Bucks.
(Ed. note: I could swear the sign to the far left reads "WESTERN STYLE FOOBAR," but I'm pretty sure "food bar" is the intent.)
Reader Michael says,
This is a snapshot I took of a fake starbucks — "starblack coffee" — in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Link
