Starbucks sent out a very random ‘hi’ notification

I’ve become almost numb to the deluge of notifications that hit my phone every day. But when an app sends a simple, very human “Hi!” message, apparently that’s enough to stop me in my tracks. And Starbucks just sent exactly that push notification to god knows how many devices a few minutes ago. For what purpose? Who knows?

Just hi. No other context. A random hello on what’s (here in New York) a dreary, rainy Tuesday. So I tapped. Doing so just brought me into the Starbucks app without any special destination or obvious promotion attached to the prompt.

The Verge has reached out to Starbucks for more details on this critical news. I’m not one to be rude, so hi back, whoever you are.

But I’ll be turning off notifications from the app now. Because this is a perfect example of just how loosely the privilege is being used.