Wallet Pop reports that Coffee Mate, Seamless Web and Starbucks are all offering (separate) variations on the theme, perhaps their way of getting a leg up on the blitz of ads sure to be discussed on Monday.

Coffee Mate‘s Free Flavor Friday promotion for Facebook fans (say that 3 times fast) has been such a success that the company is adding 20,000 bottles to it’s originally planned 100,000 bottle giveaway due to technical difficulties (too many people trying to get in on the deal at once?). You still have a chance, but the giveaway was always planned to end at 11:59pm PST, or once 100,000 people accepted the offer, so click quickly.

Seamless Web, an online food ordering website that serves New York, Boston and Washington, DC restaurants (as well as one of our favorite alternatives to room service in said cities), is offering 350,000 free cups of coffee in partnership with restaurants in each city, and all you have to do is show up. That’s one reason to battle it out with winter weather.

Starbucks is probably the biggest brand name, but their free coffee offer isn’t quite as free as the others.

“Buy any 5-, 6-, 7-, 8- or 12-pack of VIA from a Starbucks or a grocery store and if you don’t like it, return it to Starbucks for a 12-ounce bag of free Starbucks House Blend ground coffee. This offer is valid for VIA purchased between Feb. 2, 2011 and Aug. 31, 2011. The taste test guarantee is good on VIA black coffee, flavored coffee, and iced coffee.” {Wallet Pop}

While a coffee exchange is nice, there’s not much of a risk for Starbucks – whatever your feelings are about the VIA instant coffee, you’ll still be drinking their coffee. Guess that’s one way to make sure the ever more minimalistic logo doesn’t mess with brand recognition in any way.

So click quickly to get your free Coffee Mate bottle, stop in to a participating Seamless Web restaurant – every day if you’d like – to get your free cup of joe, and if you’re still not hopped up enough to assure a fitting Super Bowl super buzz, stop by your local Starbucks to give a trial run to their instant coffee.

Image via AdWeek

It’s early enough into the new year that you probably remember the horrific MS Paint meets clip art Gap logo redesign. After a slew of negative feedback on the new design, the company (wisely) decided that they’d fixed something that wasn’t broken and reverted to the old logo. After releasing a new, wordless logo Starbucks is facing a similar bit of online outrage, but don’t look for Starbucks to pull a Gap-like “just kidding!” and dump the new logo.

For starters, even though the name of the coffee shop behemoth has been dropped from the new logo, the siren and color are still recognizable as belonging to Starbucks. Gap’s now current, once former logo was already so simple that taking parts away just didn’t make sense. Even though McDonald’s doesn’t always use its name in logos, there’s no mistaking the golden arches for any other hamburger chain. Nike’s swoosh doesn’t require a name to be recognized, neither do Adidas’ 3 stripes.

Then, you have the fact that Starbucks isn’t just coffee, and if they want to emphasize that as part of their growth plans, it probably helps to not be tied to a logo that says coffee. While you might still buy workout clothing if Nike’s logo included the word “sneakers,” it’s not necessary and after a certain point would probably limit the brand. If Starbucks wants to emphasize their teas, or sandwiches or pastries, building a brand around a point that’s more about Starbucks and less about coffee, it’s not a bad move.

If anything, this is more reminiscent about Facebook’s various redesigns over the years. With each change, vocal users would demand the old, familiar design back (that includes us) and threaten a mass exodus if it didn’t happen. Inevitably, no one left in mass, and those that did were replaced with two or three new users. Somehow we’re thinking this is a change most Starbucks patrons will be able to swallow as well.

It is a unique twist, to say the least

If you love bacon in the morning but want to avoid the unhealthy side effects of eating it for breakfast, you can now enjoy the bacon flavor fat free. How you ask?

Last week, Glamour magazine tweeted that the latest flavored syrup from Torani is bacon, so you can have bacon-flavored coffee or lattes in the morning.

A bottle of the stuff goes for $6.95 on Toraniâ€s Web site, where  it has apparently been sold for a few months now. The site also has maple flavored syrup available, so if you figure out how to drink the combination from a pancake you may be well on your way to having a balanced liquid breakfast. According to Torani’s ½ – 1 oz. of syrup should be used to flavor a 6-8 oz. beverage and they suggest adding bacon flavor to manhattans, milkshakes and bloody marys in addition to coffee. The brand even offers recipes for bacon cocktails, including the Bacon Bourbon Sour, which is made with bacon syrup, lemon juice, bourbon and a garnishing strip of real bacon. {The Consumerist}

Torani claims its bacon-flavored syrup tastes salty, sweet and just like real bacon.

Hey, we didnâ€t say this was a perfect solution to the delicious but oh-so-unhealthy bacon conundrum. Plus, we havenâ€t actually tried bacon-flavored syrup, and it may turn out to be one of those things that sounds disgusting but is actually fantastic.

The Glamour staffer who wrote about the syrup did also mention seeing a café in Seattle that was selling bacon lattes, so maybe bacon-flavored drinks are the next Pumpkin Spice latte and will end up making us look foolish for questioning their tastiness. Maybe.

Answer: Alcohol. In an experiment that USA Today says could be the model for the future of coffee shops, Starbucks†Olive Way “learning lab” store in Seattleâ€s Capitol Hill section has recently reopened and will be the first to offer craft beer and local wines for sale after 4 p.m. in addition to an expanded food menu that includes local cheeses.

Starbucks said in a statement that the experiment “is in response to our customers telling us that they want more options for relaxing in our stores in the afternoon and evenings.” It is also likely a move to steal customers from the less-expensive competition in the super tight $15 billion coffee chain business. {CNN Money}

The coffee retailer is reportedly looking to change its image from modern, cookie-cutter chain store to an older, more eclectic coffee shop as well. The Seattle store will have a different look and feel than any Starbucks store has previously, as local cheeses will be served on china and the barista bar will offer seating for customers, much like in a traditional bar. {USA Today}

Weâ€re all for moves that advance businesses into the future, especially risky ones in this economy, so we have to applaud Starbucks for taking the lead here. They will likely be successful as well, but more because of the changed image than the beer and wine sales, as Starbucks could become more appealing to those who avoid it because they dislike the corporate atmosphere. We are wondering how much beer and wine from the notoriously pricey coffee chain will cost, though. If a Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte with whipped cream is $5.17, it’s hard to imagine what a craft beer or glass of local wine will run for.

Now anyone can enjoy free, unlimited WiFi at Starbucks with just one click rather than having to pay or enter AT&T or Starbucks Card information to get just two hours of free time. Sounds like a good deal, and can possibly get Starbucks more money if people stay longer and buy more. {Mashable}

Starbucks isn’t stopping at the free wireless, though. Those who use the WiFi at Starbucks soon will be able to enjoy a full Starbucks-branded online experience. That means a Starbucks splash page when you first connect that leads to aggregated news from different sections. It could also link to the Starbucks iTunes “Pick of The Week,” so you can get the song for free without having to use the code on the cards at the register.

The biggest news, though, is that with that Starbucks experience, you’ll be able to get around pay-walls at places like the Wall Street Journal. Starbucks is aiming to bring those services to uses of WiFi at stores. Of course, buying Starbucks everyday to get WSJ for free just might end up being more expensive than getting a subscription to the newspaper.

At left, Brightkite Starbucks badges, at right, a Starbucks Mayor Offer on Foursquare

For those who don’t know Foursquare, it is a social network based around your location.  Using the Foursquare app on your smartphone of choice (native apps available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Palm WebOS phones) you “check-in” to locations, and can see other people who have visited and what they say about it.  By checking in more than anyone else, you become the mayor of a location.

Mayors have typically been given special advantages, being able to cut in line, a free drink or two, and other discounts to name a few.  Now, Starbucks is offering discounts to any mayor of a specific Starbucks.  The deal is $1 and “NEW however-you-want-it Frappuccino blanded beverage.”  The deal is good until June 28.  It may not seem like much, but Starbucks isn’t exactly known for frequent discounts.

If your allegiance is with Starbucks and not a particular network, Foursquare competitor Brightkite was actually first to partner with the coffee mega-chain on Frappucino focused badges, though initially there were no special discounts. {TechCrunch} If one Frappucino isn’t enough, check in with both services though, and in the future you could find yourself with double discounts. Brightkite wouldn’t get into specifics, but hinted that there was more to come beyond the profile decoration. {Brightkite blog}

It seems that Starbucks is really going all in with location/mobile focused social networks.  It will probably be a few months before results of the programs are announced, but it serves as great publicity for both Starbucks and the networks.  As the networks start battling it out to be the mobile check-in app of choice there’s bound to be some overlap, but it will be interesting to see how they differentiate themselves going forward.

Foursquare screenshot via {Mashable}