The “Dumb Starbucks”; outlet that mysteriously opened in Los Angeles over the weekend has been revealed to be the work of Canadian Nathan Fielder, whose Nathan For You “docu-series”; on Comedy Central finds him helping struggling small businesses by staging outrageous performance-art stunts.
Since Dumb Starbucks opened its doors on Saturday in L.A.’s Los Feliz neighbourhood, customers have lined up for hours to grab a cup of coffee, despite having no idea what exactly Dumb Starbucks is.
Fielder, a marketing graduate from the University of Victoria, confirmed he was behind the stunt in a Monday press conference, claiming the stunt was so successful he’s already scoping out a second location. “I’m proud to announce we’ll be opening our second Starbucks in Brooklyn, New York soon,”; he said. “This really caught on so I’m going to ride it out.”;
Shortly after the press conference, L.A. officials shut down Dumb Starbucks for “operating without a valid public health permit,”; but “employees”; at the store insist it will reopen soon.
As you’d expect, the real Starbucks isn’t thrilled by Fielder’s parody coffee shop, claiming Fielder is violating their “protected trademark”; by using the Starbucks name and logo.
Fielder, however, provided customers with a printout insisting Dumb Starbucks is protected by “parody law,”; since the addition of the word “dumb”; to the logo means “we are technically “making fun’ of Starbucks, which allows us to use their trademarks under a law known as “fair use.”;”
Meanwhile, a video has been posted on YouTube in which Fielder explains the rationale behind Dumb Starbucks, which he claims is “no bit or joke, but a real business which I hope to get rich from.”;
