Never let it be said that Oregonians cannot see a good idea and improve on it.  Such is the case of Sex-presso, which I blogged on in February.

Coffee shop owners fight rules with bikini-clad baristas

Adam Marshall and Steven Rotan knew they would have a challenge when they opened their drive–through Coffee Nation in January.

The state was requiring them to install a median that would block left-turn access to their shop.

But the brothers had a plan. Employees would wear bikinis.

“It’s really worked,” said Marshall, 28. “Our profits are going up every day.”

Ignore the one liners.

“Bikini Days” - which include a man-made beach and lounge chairs out front - is just one of many atttemmpts to lure customers.

“We wanted to do something fun and different,” said Rotan, 33. “It’s creative and something new for people to look at.”

The bikini tops follow a trend that’s become popular at drive-through espresso stands in Seattle.

“I love it,” said Carmel Rotan, 22, who wore a pink and brown bikini top with brown shorts as she served coffee, smoothies and other drinks. “It makes for a fun atmosphere. The customers really like it.”

And they are making it pay bigtime:

It will continue through summer as part of the business’s promotional package for the suncare company Hawaiian Tropic.

This summer, Florida-based Hawaiian Tropic is paying Marshall and Rotan to promote the company. A Hawaiian Tropic banner, coffee sleeves bearing the company’s name and free sample products all are on the way.

And there you have it.  Endorsements for coffee.

It’s a whole new ballgame.

This has been buzzing around for a few days.  Here is the gist of it, from WND.

Anti-God Starbucks cup has customer steaming

An Ohio woman is steaming after reading an anti-God message published on the side of a Starbucks coffee cup.

The message that got Michelle Incanno’s blood boiling reads:

“Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure.”

Michelle Incanno of Springboro, Ohio, holds a cup part of Starbucks’ ‘The Way I See It’ campaign (Dayton Daily News)

The quote was written by Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario, Canada, and was included as part of an effort by the Seattle-based coffee giant to collect different viewpoints and spur discussion.

“As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that,” Michelle Incanno, a married mother of three who is Catholic, told the Dayton Daily News. “I don’t think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee.”

I want to say a few things.  First, until this bruhaha I don’t think I had ever really paid attention to the cup sayings.  heck, most times my coffee has one of those cardboard wimp sleeves on it because it is hot, so I don’t even see the quotes.  I think the today is the first time I have ever removed the sleeve to read it.

And yes, the comment above and some of the others *are* anti god in the sense that they represent the view point of people not interested in God or who don’t believe in God.

Like it or not, those people exist in our world and if Starbucks is true in their claim that no particular issue is a focus, then all issues become open for debate on the cups.

UPDATED, inline below. 

When I first moved here I was amazed at all the coffee stands.  From where I sit there are 5 or 6 Starbucks within just a few miles of my house, some of them literally in the same parking lot.

But whereas Starbucks has the big name recognition and a lot of saturation, there are just as many, if not more, small no-name Espresso stands scattered around the area.  The small stands have many types of draws to help complete with the giants.  Often it is just drink specials, punch cards and catchy names.

My favorite name for a Coffee Stand is "Jitters".

But a few stands have taken the gimic ideas to the next level:  Sex.

The stories broke a few weeks ago locally and on Fox News shortly after that.

Sexpresso? Seattle-Area Coffee ‘Cowgirls’ Show Skin to Get Business

Coffee-stand owner John Cambroto could not compete against the beautiful bikini-clad women selling espresso up the road.

"We had a much better atmosphere, good coffee. Unfortunately, they ran around half-naked and we didn’t," said Cambroto, who finally threw in the towel last spring and sold his business to his rival, the operator of six Cowgirls Espresso stands in the Seattle suburbs.

The naughty baristas of Cowgirls Espresso represent a new trend in and around Seattle — perhaps the most caffeinated city in America — and illustrate how cutthroat the competition can be in the hometown of the massive Starbucks chain, which has multiple coffee shops competing on the same block.

And right there is the blame for this, if you wish to find blame at all:  The cutthroat nature of the small business.

Starbucks can have their trendy music and Starbucks cards and do fine but the little guys need the edge.  The owner of Cowgirls found one more solution, another gimic if you will.  Since most coffee stands are staffed by young girls, dress em up sexy.  What better way to stand apart?

Afterall, would anyone care about Hooters if the waitresses were not clad in tight shorts and shirts?  It would be another boring resturant/sports bar.

Ok, I am not about to start making some moralistic point here.  Rest your minds at ease. 

It’s just a TV commercial for coffee.  And that really is one of the lines, "Get up, get out of bed, you can sleep when you are dead…" as only some golden hued sadistic happy happy joy joy morning loving zombies can sing it.

I gotta tell ya, it is one of the creepiest commercials I have ever seen.  This is hell for the night owl/non-morning person.

http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/2971/

Or go to the Folgers site http://toleratemornings.com/ and have a look around.

And enjoy that morning cup of coffee….

And if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
~D.H. Lawrence

The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself. 
~Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995

Seen also at The Daily Brief and The Anchoress