Los Angeles buzzes over 'Dumb Starbucks' store

Coffee snobs might actually want to visit the latest Starbucks store to open in Los Angeles.

Dumb Starbucks looks exactly like a proper Starbucks, only dumber: its menu boasts items such as Dumb Espresso and Dumb Tea, and it uses the same double-tailed mermaid as its logo.

Inside, the store features "dumb" tall, grande and venti cup sizes and "dumb" Norah Jones and jazz CDs, spoofing offerings sold at a real Starbucks.

Visitors queued around the block at the weekend to score a free coffee from the store, located in the affluent Los Feliz neighbourhood, reports BuzzFeed.

Some customers theorised that Dumb Starbucks is stealth promotion for a TV sitcom or reality show, after The Office star Rainn Wilson and Community creator Dan Harmon were among the first to post about the store on social media.

Starbucks isn't shy about suing to protect its trademarks, but Dumb Starbucks argues it's legally cleared to reuse the chain's intellectual property because it's a parody.

"By adding the word 'dumb' we are technically 'making fun' of Starbucks, which allows us to use their trademarks under a law known as 'fair use'," argues a list of frequently asked questions posted in Dumb Starbucks' storefront window.

"Although we are a fully functioning coffee chop, for legal reasons Dumb Starbucks needs to be categorized as a work of parody art.

"So, in the eyes of the law, our 'coffee shop' is actually an art gallery and the 'coffee' you're buying is considered art."

A representative of the real Starbucks confirmed Dumb Starbucks was not affiliated with the coffee chain, reports CBS Los Angeles.

It's unlikely Starbucks will swallow the parody argument. The chain recently went after a small-scale US brewer for selling a coffee-blend beer referred to by customers as a "Frappicino", which it argued was too close to the trademarked Frappucino.