Starbucks in South Korea Has a Starving Crowd...and They’re Not Serving Them
12 Aug 2025 #miscAccording to fortune.com, Starbucks in South Korea has forbidden their clients to bring desktop computers, printers, and “bulky items.”
After the COVID crisis, Starbucks isn’t just a place for coffee in South Korea, but for cheap coworking spaces.
It reminded me of a lesson from The Boron Letters. That’s a series of letters (turned into a book) he legendary copywriter Gary Halbert wrote to his son from prison. He taught that, to sell more hamburgers, you don’t need the best recipe or location, but a starving crowd.
Starbucks has a starving crowd. Their starving crowd is asking them not only for coffee but for something else. It’s time to pivot, not to forbid that starving crowd to be hungry.