Houston Chronicle says gas is cheap--compared to a gallon of Starbucks

[elehhhhna]

Nice try on their part...why not compare gas prices per ounce to platinum? THAT would REALLY make us feel better.

March 26, 2005, 10:34PM

$2, like it or not
But compared with the cost of other must-haves, gasoline doesn't look so pricey
By LYNN J. COOK
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

RESOURCES
WHAT OTHER 'ESSENTIALS' COST BY THE GALLON
1 gallon = 128 fluid ounces; 1 liter = 33.8 fluid ounces

• Starbucks Chantico (6 ounces)
Price: $2.65
One gallon: $56.53
• Coca-Cola (2 liters = 67.628 ounces)
Price: $1.69
One gallon: $3.20
• Pepto Bismol (12 ounces)
Price: $4.99
One gallon: $41.58 should be $53.23
• Castelas Olive Oil (16.8 ounces)
Price: $29.99
One gallon: $228.50
• San Pelligrino (25.3 ounces)
Price: $1.50
One gallon: $7.59
• French's Yellow Mustard (14 ounces)Price: $1.25
One gallon: $11.43
• Visine (1 ounce)
Price: $7.39
One gallon: $945.92
• Off mosquito spray (6 ounces)
Price: $5.49
One gallon: $117.12
• Windex (24 ounces)
Price: $3.19
One gallon: $13.11 $17.01

If you think gasoline is expensive, be glad your SUV doesn't run on double half-caf mocha lattes.

At $32 per gallon, the popular Starbucks brew can make today's prices at the pump look like a real bargain.

Even so, a lot of drivers who complain about gasoline prices in excess of $2 per gallon seem to have no problem plunking down $3 or more for a designer cup of coffee.

What gives? In the United States, people spend so much time telling themselves they deserve to be pampered, they sometimes forget the basics, says Michael Solomon, a professor of consumer behavior at Auburn University.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3104118

[Toucano]

1. They trot out this every time.

Is America consuming 22 million barrels of Starbucks every day?


On edit:

I recently calculated that every penny increase in the price of gas costs me $10 more per year at my most conservative driving of home to work and back. No side trips, no excursions.

[aquart]

2. How many gallons of coffee do they drink a day?

Really, how silly. How desperate.

[opiate69]

3. God these comparisons are stupid..

The fact is, I don't need to consume several gallons of mustard, olive oil or coffee in order to get from home to work and back.

[frylock]

4. hey chronic..

make that comparison when I can fill up my 13 gallon tank with the Sumatran blend just to get to work. Dumbfucks. :eyes:

[globalvillage]

5. That is the stupidest thing I've heard today.

But then, I've had the TV turned off. My eyes have been hurting a bit, and I don't have $945 for Visine.
Idiots.

[Lefta Dissenter]

6. why don't they compare the price to

water or white vinegar or bleach? It would be just as relevant! :eyes:

[Freedom_from_Chains]

10. Actually water would be more relavant

Since I must have a certain amount of water, like fuel, everyday.

[alcuno]

19. It's not a matter of comparison but the rate of increase.

Has the cost of water gone up 25% in 4 years? No. and with the rate of inflation hovering at 2% annually, a 25% increase is outrageous.

[Yupster]

23. And that bottled water

is pretty darm expensive.

[ananda]

7. only..

How much does a person buy at one time?

Do you buy six to eight gallons of coffee, coke, visine, or mosquito spray at a time?

Sheesh.

Sue

[elehhhhna]

12. I'm so glad I didn't buy the hybrid that runs on mosquito spray!

Too expensive!

[tubbacheez]

8. If we're talking about "must haves"...

... what's the going price on municipal water?

[Left Is Write]

9. Well, yes, because I buy 30 gallons of coffee a week.

[katsy]

11. sheesh...

Why don't they just sell us on the privatization of water and oxygen while they're at it. What's with these people? IMO, energy should be nationalized.

[BiggJawn]

13. What a stupid bunch of propaganda!

My truck doesn't run on Spend-ur-bux or Windex or Olive oil, now, does it?

Amazing that they didn't throw in the price of a gallon of Human Blood from the blood Bank, just for perspective...

Anyone in Houston can write Lynn Cook and ask them what diploma mill they got their Journalism Degree from?

[elehhhhna]

16. She went to MSU

Make Shit Up

[BiggJawn]

21. Is she striking for a job at FAUX?

And if memory serves, doesn't Gush Pflegmball do the "Why so up in arms about gas prices? Ever buy a gallon of Chivas?" crap himself every once-a-while?

I'm trying to figure out if this is just Talking Points Journalism, or outright plagarism. This "Gas vs. Chanel #5" comparison has been done before.

[gollygee]

14. We aren't likely to run out of coffee anytime soon

talk about missing the point

[Baclava]

15. Coffee-haters really piss me off...

[tabasco]

18. I don't understand people who don't drink coffee.

What the hell are they thinking ?!?

[shadowknows69]

17. I use a gallon of mustard

at a rate of about one per year. this is quite a stretch.

[paineinthearse]

20. LYNN J. COOK should take a gallon of Starbucks

and give himself a double expresso frappachino latte :puffpiece: enema

[frank frankly]

26. now we're talking!

:smile:

[Maiden England]

22. Now I've had a Starbucks Chantico

and let me tell you, that shit is WORTH $50 odd bucks a gallon!

:evilgrin:

Just goes to prove these idjits have no perspective.

[atre]

24. Designer coffee price increases do not tax the rest of the economy!!!!!

If the price of gas goes up, the price of everything goes up (including the designer coffee complained of, ironically enough). Gas rate hikes are in essence a tax on the whole economy. They affect everyone, regardless of whether or not you drink designer coffees. If the price of designer coffee goes up, this doesn't have a profound effect on other markets. The only people who care are those who actually patronize these establishments (the people for whom gas rate hikes are least likely to have a profound impact).

That's why all these silly comparisons fall flat. Even something as important as milk doesn't have nearly the economic effect that gas does.

[frank frankly]

25. less deaths in Iraq War than in CALIFORNIA

i remember that important analogy sometime in 2003.

also, Iraq is the size of CALIFORNIA so those WMD could be anywhere.

i would like to pour a gallon of visine in the eyes of the fool who wrote this crap, but that would be so expensive!!!

[Not_Giving_Up]

27. Since when is Starbucks a must have?

I have never plunked down $3 for a cup of coffee...I have never, ever been to Starbucks. I will admit that I survive on Coca-Cola, but I deal with that.

I remember when gas prices first started rising after 9/11, they were doing these stupid comparisons with things like toothpaste...yeah, I always buy THAT by the gallon!

The really sad part, the Chronicle is the only paper in town...the Post sold out years ago, so they print whatever they want. I won't even buy it for the coupons anymore!

[ConsAreLiars]

28. A gallon of Starbucks would keep me running for several hours

I'm lucky (or not) to keep my car running for 30 minutes on a gallon of gasoline. I suppose I am supposed to be thrilled that neither requires designer perfume. That shit gets sold to the cognitively impaired at $20 - $200 an ounce.

[Swamp Rat]

29. Lynn J. Cook is dumb. n/t