Yesterday Eater announced that the parody coffee shop, Dumb Starbucks, was heading to Brooklyn in a few weeks. The stunt by Comedy Central’s Nathan Fielder from the show Nathan for You is already shut down in Los Angeles but here are some interior and exterior shots for a laugh. Meanwhile, Starbucks is figuring out how to proceed, legally. “We are evaluating next steps and while we appreciate the humor, they cannot use our name, which is a protected trademark,” according to an email from Starbucks, as reported by USA Today. The official video for Dumb Starbucks claims, “By adding the word dumb we are legally allowed to use the coveted Starbucks name and logo because we’ve fulfilled the minimum requirements to be considered a parody under US law.”
And of course Comedy Central has been running parodies for quite some time now. New York City has been the target of the Kroll Show twice, last year with the Dr. Zizmor Canine Plastic Surgery parody ads and this year with Dad Academy.
Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York and the author of The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland, Secret Brooklyn, Secret New York, and Broadway. michelleyoungwriter.com
