[purplecats]

> If a Starbucks coffee cup does it, it means precisely nothing. You don't know that; you're just saying it to be nice.

It's actually worse than this. They're not doing it out of the kindness of their heart to be nice to you. They're doing it to manipulate your emotions to force a positive responsive with their interactions such that it increases your likelihood of paying them more money in the future.

They're not being nice to you, they're manipulating you.

[Nathanael]

While I am wary of the messages coming out of corporations, I do believe it’s possible for them to be nice, at least in some cases. In my view the intention behind the gesture is an important consideration. Did the person or group responsible for adding the message on the cup intend to increase sales? Or was kindness the motivation? Maybe it was both, and I think that already counts for something.