Who spells your name better: Starbucks or Siri?

Thanks to a video leak, we've confirmed that the spelling bee losers at Starbucks are messing with you. But could the eternally-confused robot in your iPhone also be pulling a long con? It kinda looks that way based on Siri vs. Starbucks, an excellent Tumblr which tasks a smartphone and a barista with spelling the same name.


 

Siri vs. Starbucks spelling Stuart
Siri vs. Starbucks

"AlexFromSweden", as the site's author bills himself, first combed people's Instagram and Twitter accounts for egregious examples of Starbucks mistakes. Then he asked Siri to spell each of the names herself. While Siri actually came back with the correct answer sometimes, she misheard Alex often enough to produce results like this web search for "stew art". (It's kinda like Cubism, with a bit of Baroque thrown in.) Or, in another case, an off-the-mark dictionary entry...

Siri vs. Starbucks spelling Zack
Siri vs. Starbucks

If we're declaring a victor in this showdown, the edge does go to Siri. But given Siri's alarmingly chill attitude towards murder, it's probably safer to talk to the Starbucks barista.

Kristin Hunt is a food/drink staff writer for Thrillist. Her name is misspelled by everyone, but she maintains Kristin with two "i"s is more symmetrical and phonetically correct. Follow her at @kristin_hunt.