The name that was originally intended for Starbucks. Named after the
ship from Moby Dick. Everybody, but Ishmael dies in the end, when Moby Dick, the big white whale destroys the
ship. Why somebody would name their coffee house after a character from such a depressing book that mainly deals with themes including obsession, religion, idealism versus pragmatism, revenge,
racism, hierarchical relationships, and politics remains a mystery.
Howard wanted to sell paper cups with pee-quod, but
Terry Heckler thought it was a shite name that
made him think of piss, thus the name Pequod was rejected. Howard took a piss in a paper cup and thought "What would
Starbucks do?" and came up with the name for his coffee house.