HBO Confirms Coffee Cup in ‘Game of Thrones’ Was a Mistake
(Bloomberg) -- HBO confirmed that a disposable coffee cup spotted by fans in last night's “Game of Thrones” was a mistake. The network joked it should have been an herbal tea.
“In response to inquiries from those who saw a craft services coffee cup in Sunday night's episode of ‘Game of Thrones,' ” the network admitted, “the latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake.”
The presence of the cup triggered a storm of social-media chatter, with some fans wondering if it was put there intentionally to promote Starbucks Corp. Others figured it was a mistake, and still others were perplexed that such a goof could slip through on such a costly production.
Viewers of Sunday night's episode of the hit drama on AT&T Inc.'s HBO spotted the takeaway cup with the plastic lid bearing what looked like a Starbucks logo in front of series co-star Emilia Clarke, who plays the dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen.
The incident coincides with a wide array of on-purpose product tie-ins and promotions for the show's six-episode final season, from athletic shoes to Scotch whisky to handbags.
Starbucks declined to comment. But the chain did refer to the incident on its Twitter account, taking the opportunity to tout its dragonfruit-infused Dragon Drink.
By Tuesday, the cup had been removed from the scene.
--With assistance from Gerry Smith and Leslie Patton.
To contact the reporter on this story: John J. Edwards III in Geneva at jedwardsiii1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
-
Talking Points This Week: AI Cash Burn, A Tiger Comeback And An India That Still Finds Its Own Path
India is not immune to higher oil or tighter global liquidity, yet its earnings base is broader, its domestic policy levers are still available.
-
Foreign Investors Own Half Of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. An LTCG Cut Could Matter Most Here
Foreign portfolio investors have US$115 billion parked in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank. If the government cuts long-term capital gains tax, Jefferies says returning foreign money could land here first.
