# Pumpkin Spice Latte The Pumpkin Spice Latte, Starbucks' seasonal fall drink first sold in 2003, grew into an internet punchline by 2014, when Twitter jokes and BuzzFeed listicles branded it the definitive beverage of 'basic' white women. The mockery spawned a parody Twitter account, ingredient exposés, and a John Oliver segment, turning a coffee order into shorthand for an entire autumn aesthetic. ## Origin Starbucks introduced the Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003 as a limited seasonal drink, built from espresso, steamed milk, and a syrup blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and pumpkin pie spice[1]. Sales jumped roughly 11% the following November, which then-CEO Jim Donald credited to the new drink[6]. Over the next decade Starbucks moved more than 200 million PSLs, and CEO Howard Schultz called it the chain's most popular seasonal beverage[2]. The meme layer arrived much later. The 'basic white girl' association crystallized in fall 2014, when jokes about the drink flooded Twitter and blogs at the start of PSL season[5]. Flavorwire noted at the time that 'lots and lots of jokes about white women and Pumpkin Spice Lattes' were circulating, though the site could not decide whether this was 'the new vaguely sexist zeitgeist' or just 'people on Twitter don't have many original thoughts'[5]. - **Platform:** Starbucks (product) / Twitter and BuzzFeed (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2003 ## Overview The joke works on two layers. The drink itself became a stand-in for a very specific archetype, yoga pants, Uggs, autumn Instagram photos, and cart runs for pumpkin-flavored everything at Trader Joe's[3]. Urban Dictionary at one point described the PSL as 'literally the whitest product on earth' and 'the only thing white girls can even'[8]. The format is fill-in-the-blank: pair any fall product with a 'basic white girl' observation and the joke writes itself, from BuzzFeed listicles[3] to Kotaku photoshop contests[7]. The counter-joke arrived almost as quickly. Writers at Vox argued the pile-on had less to do with the coffee than with sexism aimed at anything 'coded as feminine,' as well as skepticism of savvy seasonal marketing[1]. That reframing produced a third layer of Pumpkin Spice Latte jokes: pedantic corrections such as 'pumpkin spice refers to the spices used in pumpkin pie and doesn't actually taste like pumpkins,' one Twitter user's 2018 riff on the whole discourse[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Pumpkin Spice Latte? A Starbucks espresso drink made with steamed milk and a syrup of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and pumpkin pie spice, first sold in 2003 and now the chain's flagship fall seasonal beverage[1]. ### Where did Pumpkin Spice Latte come from? Starbucks introduced the drink in 2003, and Starbucks sales grew 11% the following month, which then-CEO Jim Donald credited to the new PSL[6]. ### What does Pumpkin Spice Latte mean as a meme? By 2014 it became internet shorthand for 'basic' white women, Uggs, yoga pants, and autumn Instagram culture, an association that jelled through BuzzFeed listicles and Twitter jokes[3]. ### How do you use the Pumpkin Spice Latte meme? Typical formats include 'basic white girl' listicles pairing the drink with fall stereotypes[3], 'pumpkin spice everything' absurdity gags applying the flavor to random products[7], or the pedantic 'pumpkin spice contains no pumpkin' correction[6]. ### Is Pumpkin Spice Latte still popular? Yes. Starbucks has kept moving the launch date earlier each year, with a 2018 debut on August 28 that Vox tied to a broader 'seasonal creep' strategy and a sales slowdown[1]. ### Why is the Pumpkin Spice Latte associated with 'basic' white women? Flavorwire and BuzzFeed pieces in September 2014 hammered the link, with Flavorwire noting a wave of Twitter jokes about 'white women and Pumpkin Spice Lattes'[5] and Urban Dictionary later calling the drink 'literally the whitest product on earth'[8]. ### Did John Oliver make a segment about pumpkin spice? Yes. On October 12, 2014, John Oliver aired a three-minute mock investigation into the flavor that later passed 6.2 million views[6]. ### What did Food Babe say about the Pumpkin Spice Latte? Blogger Vani Hari published an August 2014 investigation arguing Starbucks had refused for years to release the full ingredient list, and calling out caramel color and vague 'natural flavors' in the drink[2]. ### Does the Pumpkin Spice Latte contain actual pumpkin? The drink is built on 'pumpkin and traditional fall spice flavors' combined with espresso and steamed milk per Starbucks' own customer-service replies quoted by Food Babe, and the 'no real pumpkin' angle became a recurring joke[2]. ### What was the BuzzFeed Pumpkin Spice Latte Challenge? A September 22, 2014 stunt where six BuzzFeed writers were given 15 minutes and a tray of decoy ingredients to recreate the PSL from scratch, scored on 'drinkability, appearance, creativity, and basicness'[4]. ### Who runs the @TheRealPSL parody account? The account launched on August 4, 2014, posting tweets written from the drink's perspective, and picked up more than 93,500 followers in its first two months[6]. ## References 1. [https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/8/29/17791082/pumpkin-spice-latte-starbucks-backlash-explained]() 2. [https://foodbabe.com/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte/]() 3. [https://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/things-all-basic-white-girls-do-during-the-fall]() 4. [https://www.buzzfeed.com/samstryker/pumpkin-spice-disaster]() 5. [https://www.flavorwire.com/414701/white-women-love-pumpkin-spice-lattes-declares-the-internet]() 6. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pumpkin-spice-latte]() 7. [https://kotaku.com/kotaku-shop-contest-pumpkin-spice-armageddon-1730374435]() 8. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pumpkin%20Spice%20Latte]() 9. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ-2aAt8Wpc]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/pumpkin-spice-latte Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library