PSLs are gross, overly sugarladen drinks and emblematic of both crass consumerism and America’s obsession with unhealthy food. Halloween decorations are gaudy and an eyesore and also emblematic of crass consumerism, while also representing a non-trivial amount of non-biodegradable plastic waste that just winds up buried in landfills every year.
No, not flavored coffee. PSLs. Different things. It’s like saying “pork sandwiches” when someone brings up the McRib. It’s not that simple. Food has a cultural component tied to its manufacture and identification. And, similar to the McRib, Starbucks style PSLs are food that probably shouldn’t exist and which only does as a byproduct of market capitalism. They’re the Lacanian ‘object a’ - an empty, manufactured falseness. We don’t desire the thing itself, but the thing whose absence it symbolizes. What you’re really consuming when you drink a PSL or a McRib is its innate mechanical predictability.
PSLs are gross, overly sugarladen drinks and emblematic of both crass consumerism and America’s obsession with unhealthy food. Halloween decorations are gaudy and an eyesore and also emblematic of crass consumerism, while also representing a non-trivial amount of non-biodegradable plastic waste that just winds up buried in landfills every year.
Ahh yes, the classic emblem of America’s crass consumerism checks notes flavored coffee.
No, not flavored coffee. PSLs. Different things. It’s like saying “pork sandwiches” when someone brings up the McRib. It’s not that simple. Food has a cultural component tied to its manufacture and identification. And, similar to the McRib, Starbucks style PSLs are food that probably shouldn’t exist and which only does as a byproduct of market capitalism. They’re the Lacanian ‘object a’ - an empty, manufactured falseness. We don’t desire the thing itself, but the thing whose absence it symbolizes. What you’re really consuming when you drink a PSL or a McRib is its innate mechanical predictability.