Uh... sure, forward our email -- but not so much!

Full disclosure: I've ragged on Starbucks before for not thinking through the customer communications email program. So this story on MediaPost kills me -- apparently 'bux sent out an email for a free iced coffee to friends and family -- and then was shocked (shocked!) when it got forwarded all over the country. They quickly killed the program.

What aspect of viral did these guys miss? Strong brand esteem, high passalong value, low barriers to forward. It's a perfect value-based viral setup, and anybody not caught under a large, heavy rock should understand this by now.

Connecting effectively with your non-identifiable foot traffic is clearly a priority for Starbucks -- so how can they be messing it up so badly?