Sssh! Starbucks makes it to the Sochi Olympics - and it's FREE!
Starbucks has unofficially made it to the Winter Olympics. The coffee giant isn't an Olympic sponsor and is therefore forbidden to have an official presence at Sochi.
The secret Starbucks souurce at Sochi.
The nearest official Starbucks out of 69 branches in Russia is 350 miles away by car in Rostov-on-Don. The only branded coffee player at the Sochi event is supposed to be McDonald's , now becoming known for its McCafé outlets.
But the Wall Street Journal today lets the cat out of the bag.
“Olympic sponsors such as McDonald's usually defend their turf more fiercely than a Team Canada goalie,” says the WSJ.
But after a journalist for NPR, spotted a woman with mystery Starbucks cup , its female owner revealed that it came from the "office," —the Olympic broadcasting center where NBC has its own secret Starbucks.
The media giant, which paid $775 million for exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights for the Games, has erected the Sochi Starbucks in its cordoned-off area of the Olympic media center. Baristas serve the free java 24-hours-a-day to the roughly 2,500 people NBC says it sent here.
NBC flies in a rotating crew of some 15 baristas from Starbucks coffee shops in Russia, sets them up with accommodations in Sochi, and pays their regular wages. As with past Games, Starbucks has gladly cooperated with the effort, says the WSJ.
The barista battalion is larger than the Sochi Olympic teams of some 57 countries, says the Journal
.
NBC says its Starbucks doesn't break Olympic rules, which prevent non-sponsor companies from showing their brands or offering products at Games facilities. The secret coffee shop is within an NBC facility and isn't open to the public.