Man Says His Kindness Earned Him a Lifetime Starbucks Gift Card and TikTok Is Both "Jealous and Happy"
Updated Nov. 20 2023, 8:27 a.m. ET
Raise your latte if earning a lifetime Starbucks gift card is more or less on top of your list of the best things that could ever happen to you.
One TikTok creator claimed the dream became a reality. But there’s more to his story. Because this guy deserved this once-in-a-lifetime win.
Jontay Black says he was awarded his lifetime Starbucks gift card for the best reason possible.
A TikTok creator by the name of Jontay Black posted a video detailing his experience at Starbucks that ended with him claiming he walked away with a lifetime Starbucks gift card.
The encounter, which took place at RDU airport, didn’t start out going very well. As Jontay explained, he wanted a strawberry lemonade — a fairly straightforward order, or as Jontay put it, “nothing fancy” — but the barista made him the wrong drink more than once.
“It was a new girl and she didn’t know how to put the order in,” the Starbucks customer explained, adding that he stayed “polite” despite multiple mess-ups. In fact, Jontay said that everyone has rough days at work, including himself.
That’s when Jontay’s luck changed — forever. A Starbucks executive happened to be watching the exchange, and decided to reward him for treating the barista with respect. That’s right — Jontay says he ended up earning a lifetime Starbucks gift card!
“I just go and swipe it,” he says in disbelief, ending his video by intoning, “Shoutout to Starbucks for making my day.”
Unfortunately, the story may be too good to be true. A Starbucks spokesperson reached out with a statement about the incident: "The positive interaction did occur, it was a true example of how our partners work to uphold the customer experience every day. However, the gift card the customer received was for $5."
Still, TikTok rejoiced over the lucky customer’s supposed lifetime Starbucks gift card.
Commenters to Jontay’s post were overwhelmingly thrilled for the polite coffee enthusiast. As one person hilariously commented, “I've never been this jealous and happy for someone.”
“It’s hard watching people live your dreams,” joked another TikTok user, while someone else shared what we should all take away from Jontay’s post: “Moral of the story ... Be kind to others!”
This comment was perhaps our favorite, however, with a Starbucks devotee quipping, “If that's your way of proposing to me, I'll break the news to my husband. BRB.”
Meanwhile, a lifetime Starbucks gift card is perhaps one of the most valuable items a person can possibly win, with a report by Yahoo! noting that women spend a whopping $2,327 on coffee annually. Men spend almost as much, shelling out $1,934 per year to sip their favorite coffee drinks.
It’s also worth noting that Starbucks raised its rates in 2022, according to The Street. And depending on your favorite beverage, you may even spend as much as $5.95 a pop for a holiday coffee, such as a pumpkin spice latte, per Coffee Affection.
Bottom line: We would all be thrilled to be a proud recipient of a lifetime Starbucks gift card — because fueling our Starbucks love gets pricey. But if we had to pick someone else to enjoy this honor, we'd go with Jontay, who proved sometimes nice guys do come out on top.