Mercury Person

Good morning... What can I get for you?

I hope you had a good weekend. I spotted a partner wearing one of these contraptions over the weekend and was inspired to tell you the origin of it. Some of you may know that it's called a "Mercury Man" dispenser. You fill it up with hot or cold samples of coffee and wander around an area handing them out. Probably the second most popular marketing tool at Starbucks next to the Internet coupon.

I've worn this thing a few times in my day... Here is some documentation donated by another partner who promoted themselves a ways back... DOCUMENTATION

So why is it called the "Mercury Man"? Simple... These were created back in the day when there was Starbucks and Il Giornale. In the center of the Il Giornale logo was the head of Mercury... the not-so-hidden message there is that Mercury was fast... hence, fast service at Il Giornale. So... these contraptions were used to sample coffee and someone came up with the name "Mercury Man"... to call out Mercury from the logo... it stuck and it's called that to this day.

Stay tuned for tomorrow where Des gets a story...

We'll see you tomorrow for your usual...

Pat Nerr...