The sexpresso craze I first blogged about here, and then again here, continues to grow and flourish here in the Pacific Northwest, the home of Starbucks, the unofficial caffeine capital of the US.

The concept is really a no brainer.  Dress the baristas up in sexy clothes and see if they draw business.

Duh.  Of course they will.  You don't really think Hooters is still around for the food do you?  Seriously?

The latest craze started when a Bonney Lake mom, kids in the car with her, went through a Hot Chick-a-Latte stand, and the barista was wearing pasties. 

OK, that might be pushing it a bit, but then again some bikinis don't cover much more.

She has decided to organize a protest.  All well and good, though voting with her wallet is usually the most effective.  I do have to laugh at her stated intention of starting a clothing drive...Ma'am, I don't think lack of clothing is the problem here...

But really, all she is doing is drawing more of a crowd, and I doubt they will lose any business.

The whole idea is not a real uncommon one.  Why do you think cheerleaders hold car washes?  Why do all kinds of products have cute and sexy models? 

Sex Sells.  Our culture not only counts on it, it enables it daily with the things on TV, the things in magazines and the things we sell.  Surgeons make trillions selling beauty to the highest bidder, and our daily news and tabloids are filled with the escapades of the young, rich and lovely.

If you wanted to combat the tide of sexy baristas, you have to start a lot deeper in our society.  And if the tide turns, and their popularity, the ladies will re-clothe themselves and the gimmick will change.

On the whole, with a few qualifiers, I personally could not care less.  I do find one stand's use of a 16 year old daughter to be a bit over the line.  And the pastie thing may be a bit much...at the least from a safety point of view.

But bars and restaurants all over the country do much much worse.  This is a niche market where only a few are voluntarily exposed to the tempting sight of a scantily glad barista.    That those who want to patronize the shops and those who don't can go to Tully's.

Free market, folks.

It's easy enough for me to ignore it, there are none of the stands on the Eastside where I work and live...well there is one in Redmond I hear, but way out of my path.

Not so lucky is a friend of mine who happened to go through Cowgirls a time or two, till the wife found his Cowgirls card, and they decided he wouldn't do that any more.

Tough break.

If there was one in town, heck I might or I might not.  I'm a little tired of my local Starbucks, so I have been trying all the local stands.  My favorite sits adjacent to a pet hospital in Issaquah (can't remember the name off hand) and I keep going back even though the location is a bit of a pain because the coffee is the best I have found so far.  Not lost in my mind is that after only a few times, the full time barista remembered my drink. 

That's why she gets a tip.  Not her clothing...or lack of.

So far, though I have driven past one of these stands in Seattle, I have yet to sample their coffee and likely that's how it will stand.

Honestly, making a big deal will just make them more popular as you give them free advertisement on the Newspapers and new channels trying to slip in a lil titillation during sweeps week.

The media knows that sex sells too.

One side note:  The girls are not sluts, whores, tramps or hookers.  They just want to make a living and have some fun.  Lighten up.