According to Advertising Age, Starbucks will be handing out a “surprise” to random commuters in NYC and other cities.

Starting today Starbucks is surprising Manhattan commuters with free subway MetroCards and warming Chicagoans with free movie tickets. The catch is Starbucks wants consumers to pass on their benevolence by performing a good deed for another person, say, to hold open a door or buy someone a cup of coffee.

This is nothing new, but it is new that a corporation would try to use it for advertising purposes.

In NYC, we have an unlimited subway card that is good for an unlimited number of rides within 24 hours of its purchase.  There are a few rules, like it can’t be used more than once in the same station within a ten minute period, but nothing too restrictive.

On any given evening, when entering the subway, you may be handed one of these unlimited cards by another person exiting the same subway.  There is an unwritten and unsaid rule that you do the same when you reach your destination.

I have personally received “the gift” three or four times, and have seen it bestowed on others more than ten.

Who says New Yorker’s aren’t nice?

So I’m walking home from the fish store today, and as I approached 47th and 3rd I saw a FedEx Kinko’s store on the West side of the street.  I didn’t think much of it, until I took a few more steps, and found myself outside a different FedEx Kinko’s on the East side of the street—directly across from the one on the West side.

Now I kinda sorta understand why there are Starbucks across the street from each other, but can someone please tell me why FedEx Kinko’s needs to do the same thing?