Ordering a Starbucks isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. However, one thing this TikToker didn’t expect was for their barista to seemingly mock them for how they ordered—leading them to go viral on the app.
Starbucks customers often go viral on TikTok, whether due to their absurdly unhealthy order choice or discovering too late that there’s actual mold in their order.
However, for TikToker Mr Burgies (@mrburgies), it’s less about what he ordered, and more about how he ordered it.
The video, which has amassed 5.2 million views, shows the creator looking at his drink in confusion before the camera pans to the order screen. It shows the name “Um Uh Paul” under the “received” section. He then shows his drink to the camera, which has “Um uh Paul” written on the label.
“POV: You stutter at Starbucks and they add the ‘Um Uh’ to your order,” on-screen text reads.
In the video description, he added, “They put the stutter in my name.”
BroBible reached out to Mr Burgies and Starbucks via email.
What Did Commenters Say?
Largely, commenters were amused, with staff and customers alike sharing their own stories.
“I work at Starbucks and if you say ‘uh’ in front of your name I’m writing it in idk,” one commenter wrote.
“My name is Daisy but some how got Jay Z,” a second added.
“I said ‘Madison’ and they wrote ‘Medicine’,” a third revealed.
While a fourth added, “I once said ‘Uh Molly’ and they wrote ‘Amolli'”
Furthermore, a fifth echoed, “People sometimes think my name is Melissa because I say ‘Um Alyssa.”
Do Starbucks Baristas Mess Up Order Names On Purpose?
For over a decade, Starbucks has become notorious for spelling people’s names incorrectly on customers’ coffee cups. But rather than this being a sign of poor penmanship, some internet conspiracy theorists claim that Starbucks actually does this deliberately. The idea is that, by messing up order names, people will post about it, which provides Starbies with a lot of free advertising.
However, Starbucks staff have denied this when directly asked on the r/Starbucks subreddit. “I would love if I had so much free time that I could think about how to creatively misspell names,” one Redditor put. “It’s just hard to hear and the on screen keyboard is horrible. Plus some people just can’t spell.”
“I am not gonna lie, my brain sometimes just forgets how to spell a lot of names in the moment when asking a customer for their name,” another added.
While a third wrote, “That would seem to be a silly thing to spend training time on, as opposed to training for other things. Then you’d also be encouraging a workforce that accepts dishonesty.”
@mrburgies they put the stutter in my name
But think about it for a second. By making a humorous addition to Mr Burgie’s name on the order screen, the establishment has, once again, gone viral. So, is this open mocking of the TikToker’s ordering style part of that same, unconfirmed marketing tactic? It’s definitely something to think about, at least.