Jonathan's Starbuck's Card
The month-long pay-it-forward of scanning an image of a Starbuck's stored value card and sharing its account via a Twitter feed is over. Here is where you can pick up the threads of what happened.
Mid July 2011, mobile app developer Jonathan Stark posted an image of his card on his website and pre-loaded it with $50. Over the course of the next several weeks, thousands of dollars were added and spent on coffees as people took the scan with them to buy coffee. People checked his Twitter feed to see the current value remaining on the card:
- Andy Matthews, another programmer, wrote some code so you can see exactly how popular the card activity was, and how often people withdrew and deposited funds here:
Then developer Sam Odio wrote a program to scrap funds out of Jonathan's card and move to his own Starbuck's card. He would sit in a Starbucks and go to the counter when the value climbed to make the transfer. He even published his code online so that others could do it. Odio eventually collected $700 from his hack, and is selling his card on eBay.
How to use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
Sam Odio's blogJonathan Stark recently released his Starbucks card to the public as a social experiment. It was quickly picked up by CNN, Time, and many others. For those of you who are living under a rock, here's what is going on: anyone can donate to the card and anyone is welcome to use the card.- This ultimately led towards Starbuck's canceling the card, experiment ended:
Get a coffee, give a coffee - Jonathan's CardThe time has come for this wonderful experiment to make a transformation. Starbucks has informed me that they will be shutting off the card at 10pm ET tonight (Friday, August 12, 2011). We believe this is the start to a bigger more glowing picture.- The conspiracy theorists came out with the notion that this really was a Starbuck's-sponsored viral media plan to begin with. They were wrong. "I still find the circumstances bizarre: programmer selflessly develops experiment that inadvertently gives global behemoth brand millions of dollars worth of free publicity, drives customers to stores and patterns the behavior of using their new payment device, with no strings attached
Jonathan’s Card: a karma macchiato? | coffee business strategiesIt is a surreal experience to wake up and find one's name on the front page of your customized Google News… particularly before making my morning espresso. I cannot recommend it too highly. Thank you to all for reading my recent blog article on the matter of Mr. Stark and his Jonathan's Card and for defending your positions on this site and many others with such passion.- Odio emailed Stark trying to reach out. The comments on Stark's blog are interesting reaction to the entire episode."The fact that you perceived a need to send an "olive branch" (coupled with the fact that you actually believe your e-mail to be an "olive branch") says everything you need to say.
The fact that Jonathan believes it"s not about his impression of your actions but rather the impressions of those who participated in his "experiment" that matters says everything he needs to say."
An Open Letter to Sam Odio : Jonathan StarkToday I received an email from Sam Odio. I prefer to respond to it in public. Here is his message: My impression is not the one that matters. The impressions that matter are those of the people who have been touched by and participated in Jonathan's Card.- Since then, others have stepped up to offer their own pay-it-foward experiements.
Don’s Bin « WireShoutDon's Bin is short for Donation Basket. Don's Bin is a project that was sprung off of the idea of Johnathan's Card, a project also known as Take-A-Coffee, Leave-A-Coffee. Don's Bin is a collection of all of the new cards that sprung out of this project to make sure the idea lasts forever.
