Product survey design and methodology

Marketing

Coffee Cups

There are 2855 locations in NYC alone that sell you coffee cups. To list all these stores -- sometimes duplicated -- would take a volume alone. The following is therefore a summary of some key places that sell coffee cups -- otherwise called mugs, the general price of these (usually ceramic) coffee cups; the details of these coffee cups; and descriptions of outstanding logos and/or designs.

As the Huff Post New York (2012) remarks: "Coffee cups in New York are as varied as the Big Apple" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/13/coffee-cups-in-new-york-a_n_230644.html). For the first three decades it was the iconic polystyrene or paper Greek-themed "Happy to Serve" coffee cup that has now been converted into ceramic. In the mid-1990s, the environmentally friendly Starbucks-style cup rushed into style usually accompanied with sipping lids and cardboard sleeves. All of these are free; you paid for the drink of course. You find these cups at most NYC delis, diners and bodegas and they generally contain a drip-sort of coffee. Most of these coffee cups, as "Cawfee Tawk" observed, currently carry the Greek motif

Recently corner coffee vendors offer you another style: random. Sometimes, the logo comes from Capital One. Other times, they have pharmaceutical names. Sometimes, they are green Nurse Jackie cups, advertising the Showtime series. And more recently, cups that read "Raymond James Stadium," and "Bon Marche." These cups are free since they were procured free once from the garbage heaps of disused vendors who went out of business. Wesellcoffee.com sells a lot of these cups to New York. But some stores, such as D&S Depot, are more selective. They want certain designs, and certain sizes -- usually 8, 10, 12 and 16 ounces. There are also different types of hot and cold coffee. In these stores, the cup may be free; the coffee is usually more expensive. Those with the designs, the so-called misfit's cups, are ironically enough cheaper than the plain ones. City Room, for instance, bought a sleeve of 16-ounce "Green Leaf" leaf cups for $5; the plain ones, of the same quantity, went for $8. Most vendors too praise the quality of these polystyrene or plastic cups.

"They are very good," said Natan, 35, a vendor on 40th Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, who declined to give his last name.

He demonstrated with a Bon Marche cup he had in stock that day. "Sometimes you hold it, spill on you," he said, squeezing the cup. (Lee, 2009)

Misfit cups seem to be not only cheaper but stronger than plain cups, too. With the plain cups, the lid pops. With the misfit cups, the lid remains strong.

New York has of course its regular coffee cups too as any other city but these you have to buy in stores or online -- and these stores are likely even more extensive than vendors or coffee stores that sell you coffee and provide you with free cups. Prices are diverse, but those with logos seem to sell around $40 per set of four.

Many of these logos are fascinating. Examples of the most interesting are the following:

A topical version on many seems to surround the circumstance of surviving hurricane Irene and thanking the drinker -- whether he had or had not encountered it -- for surviving. Another popular political image is the following:

There are special coffee cups for the 4th of July, and coffee cups that are scripted with the store's logo, or with a simply 'Happy to serve you'. This is the iconic coffee-to-go cup coffee cup that has been sold in NY for the last half century and has appeared on TV shows and motion pictures set in the city (NY First http://www.newyorkfirst.com/gifts/modern-art-ny-coffee-cup-103/).

Some stores offer coffee cups that you can decorate. For instance, the Rockefeller Center, Times Square and 5th Avenue offer a logo for 4 at the steep price of $40.

The price and material of the coffee cups seem right. I have no innovation there. My ingenuity, however, does appear with an intriguing idea: how about designing coffee cups that serve as weapons -- which you can punch before or after using them… So many of today's New York workers and inhabitants are overwhelmed by the hassles of their life. Many react by attacking others or themselves. Stories of consumers throwing their coffee (in cups) at others have been common. A TSA screener at JFK 'hurled hot coffee at American Airlines pilot who told her to stop swearing' (Hills, 2012). A cashier was burned by hot coffee in $2.40 dispute (Daily Mail. Com). Coffee was thrown at women during a fight (CT post).