I can’t know for sure, but there are a few obvious answers. For instance, Starbucks can cash in on its most popular beverage (probably ever) for longer if “fall” starts in August instead of September. “Summerween,” a growing trend that beckons Halloween lovers to start their spooky celebrations a few months early, also encourages a premature revival of the cold-weather staple. But I can’t help but feel like it’s more than that.
Remember 2020? (Sigh.) It was the first year that Starbucks brought the PSL back in August instead of September. Times were dire, the future looked bleak and the chain gave people a nostalgic, feel-good surprise that they were eager to sip on in the midst of all that s***.
Five years later, it feels like we’re somehow back at square one—perhaps for different reasons, depending on who you are. But between post-pandemic inflation, newly instated tariffs, impending environmental collapse and geopolitical travesties that affect quite literally the entire world, it feels like civilization as we know it can’t get ahead of the ball. And there’s Starbucks, dousing our wounds with steamed milk. These days, the PSL is a reliable little treat for the apocalypse.
Maybe it’s not that deep—corporations want money, and that’s, of course, the engine that makes the PSL run. But like Christmas in July, #summerween signals the peoples’ craving for a fleeting hit of dopamine while they’re wading through the trenches. It’s not chunky sweaters and a crisp fall breeze that you want—it’s to feel safe, warm, comfortable and refreshed. If gourd-infused sugar and espresso can simulate that peace a few weeks early, why wouldn’t you order one?
