It’s been about five years since that infamous Game of Thrones coffee cup snafu, however, I can’t help but think of that wild error every now and again. There were a few memorable GOT set errors over the years. However, nothing gained the attention that coffee cup did, and that’s proven by the estimated amount of free advertising Starbucks got for it.
As you likely remember, when Season 8, Episode 4 of Game of Thrones aired, many spotted and then couldn’t stop talking about the misplaced modern coffee cup that was in a shot of the show. There was so much chatter about it, in fact, CNBC reached out to experts to see what the value of this mistake was. Turns out, the dollar amount is huge, and according to some, Starbucks got a fortune worth of free advertising out of it, as the report explained:
Stacy Jones, CEO of marketing company Hollywood Branded, put the estimated value of all the buzz at $2.3 billion. Jones cited PR subscription service Critical Mention, which has tallied 10,627 mentions of Starbucks and ‘Game of Thrones’ online and on TV and radio around the world.
Were you blown away by that number? Because I sure was. This article came three days after the episode aired back in 2019 – the episode came out on May 5, HBO responded to the mistake on May 6, and this was published on May 7. That means, this number is based on two days of data…that’s WILD!
Now, it’s been five years since that moment, and we’re still talking about the damn cup that wasn’t even from Starbucks from time to time. So, think about how much higher that number might be if we were calculating for mentions since 2019 and inflation.
The story then quoted Jones as she called this snafu a “once-in-a-lifetime collision of opportunity for Starbucks.” That’s because, the cup wasn’t even from there and this mistake was nothing near product placement, it was straight up something that was not supposed to happen.
It’s also interesting that the story notes how much an intentional product placement would cost for a moment like this. Noah Mallin, who was the head of experience, content and sponsorship at media agency Wavemaker at the time, said that if they really wanted to put a Starbucks cup there, it likely would have cost six figures.
Meanwhile, CEO of Hill Impact, Dan Hill, explained that it’s hard to attach a number to this situation, however, there’s no denying how valuable it was:
It’s impossible to put a real figure on how much free advertising Starbucks gets out of the situation, but it’s in a totally different category than product placement because it was accidental, which makes it more valuable.
He continued by saying he assumed the attention came from the “country’s ‘gotcha culture’” not the “power of Starbucks.” However, there is something to be said about people on social media assuming that that disposable cup came from a massive coffee company.
Overall, this estimation is staggering, and it’s still wild to think about the impact this small snafu made on the internet all those years ago. Even to this day, when mistakes happen on House of the Dragon – or really any show for that matter – comparisons to this instance are drawn.
So, while $2.3 billion feels unbelievable, when you think about all the coffee cup and Starbucks chatter that came from that one Game of Thrones scene, the number kind of becomes fathomable.
To go back and see the episode that the cup was in (but is no longer in), you can stream Game of Thrones with a Max subscription.