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.