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Conservatives Hate Starbucks Ad That Spoofs Town Hall Loudmouths

By Jim Edwards

Updated on: October 1, 2009 / 12:29 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Starbucks has triggered a backlash among conservatives who are annoyed by a TV ad for instant coffee that lampoons people who yell at town hall meetings (video below).

They're annoyed that the cafe company seems to be poking fun at the near-riots organized by the right to disrupt local debates on healthcare reform. The theme of the ad is that people can't taste the difference between Starbucks' regular coffee and its new instant coffee brand, Via. The script:

Voiceover: People who yell at town hall meetings can't taste the difference.

First man in town hall meeting: I can't taste the difference!
Second man in town hall meeting: I can't either!
VO: Can you?

Among the 13 pages of commenters on Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity's web site:

XTankLt: Time to go into your local Starbucks and yell at the top of your lungs.... Via Coffee? YOU LIE!!!!

And at Yes But However:

R. Murphy: lost my business.

Hannity-ites are urging the fellow travelers to write complaints to the company here.

Interestingly, the right-wingers seem convinced that Starbucks is a trendy liberal brand and many insist that they prefer Dunkin' Donuts. Time for a counter ad from Dunkin'? (And what about those Starbucks death panels?)