Pinkberry: Good Yogurt, Bad Marketing

On Saturday, I finally tried the much hyped Pinkberry frozen yogurt. If you haven't heard of Pinkbery, it was started by a Korean woman as a small frozen yogurt shop in LA. Its light flavor quickly became popular and has since spread to multiple locations in LA, NY, and even Temecula!

I've been wanting to try this Pinkberry frozen yogurt after hearing so many good words about it. Unfortunately, all the LA locations are a wee bit too far from my apartment in Long Beach, but now that I'm back at my parents' in Temecula, I can finally try it!

(Let's not get into my shock and disbelief that such a cool and trendy dessert joint would be located in Temecula.)

Everything about Pinkberry is light, cute, and minimalist. The decor, the logo, the website, the furniture and, of course, the yogurt itself. The menu consists of just 2 flavors, original and green tea, with a plethora of toppings, including mochi, fresh fruit, almonds, and carob chips. Along with frozen yogurt, their menu offers shaved ice and smoothies.
The LA Times describes Pinkberry's interior style as:

"So he painted the inside of Pinkberry in sherbet hues of peach, green and blue, and used Philippe Starck furniture and Le Klint plastic hanging lamps from Design Within Reach because, he said, they remind him of yogurt. The effect is modern Asian, not kindergarten."

So, how does the Pinkberry taste? Delicious. The flavor is so light yet so flavorful. I mopped up that small bowl and was still craving more.

I wanted to take photos of the store, but I was told that they don't allow photos to be taken in the store. I was shocked. I almost retorted, "That's a bad marketing move." It reminded me of the days Belkin used to forbid people from taking photos of our trade show booth and the products displayed in the booth. Hello, if you're showing it at a trade show, it's already public! That is exactly what rushed through my mind when the counter girl pooh-poohed my photography attempts. They're just hurting themselves not allowing their own customers to take photos and spread the Pinkberry gospel. It's called viral marketing. Duh.

Anyway, I did manage to get a photo of the yogurt itself (I guess you're allowed to take photos of the food but not the shop).