--- title: Bored? Now You Can Chat Up Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte description: Starbucks launched a chat bot, 'The Real PSL,' on Facebook Messenger — so now you can have mindless conversations with a beverage. Sort of. canonical: https://time.com/4473021/pumpkin-spice-latte-starbucks-facebook-chat/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-30T20:01:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:01.812Z og:title: Bored? Now You Can Chat Up Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte og:description: Starbucks launched a chat bot on Facebook for the popular fall menu item. og:url: https://time.com/4473021/pumpkin-spice-latte-starbucks-facebook-chat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5301e0006b773e6/6988a43acf40a84757c44a45/pumpkin-spice-latte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: pumpkin-spice-latte og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bored? Now You Can Chat Up Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte twitter:description: Starbucks launched a chat bot on Facebook for the popular fall menu item. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5301e0006b773e6/6988a43acf40a84757c44a45/pumpkin-spice-latte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Profess Your Love for the Pumpkin Spice Latte Directly By Chatting With the Starbucks Drink on Facebook > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 30, 2016 8:01 PM UTC  Starbucks  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 30, 2016 8:01 PM UTC Yes, fall’s most popular and controversial beverage — the [iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte](http://time.com/3264103/pumpkin-spice-latte-chemistry/?iid=sr-link2) — now has its own anthropomorphic personality. Sort of. [Starbucks](http://time.com/4393996/starbucks-coffee-raise-prices/?iid=sr-link8) has launched a chat bot [on Facebook Messenger](https://www.messenger.com/t/TheRealPSL/) called “The Real PSL” to make it easier for customers to communicate with the flavored drink that encapsulates all things autumnal [and basic.](http://time.com/77305/how-conformity-became-a-crime/?iid=sr-link2) The Pumpkin Spice Latte has been around for thirteen years now, but this is the first time Starbucks is turning the [trendy menu option](http://time.com/4269554/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-lattes-k-cups/?iid=sr-link4) into a fully-fledged character that you can profess your love to directly. The chat bot is sassy but only semi-functional, repeatedly asking questions like “What emoji do you think describes me best?” which it follows up with non-sequitur responses like “Look into your PSL… and you will find the answer” or “Well one time I learned to skate and that seems pretty relevant.” (Hint to The Real PSL: no, it’s… not.) It’s amusing in the way that all bots are amusing: mostly for finding (and taking advantage of) the limitations of their glitchy algorithmic minds. This one seems especially primitive, however. And frankly, we always thought the PSL’s personality would be warmer and sweeter than the caustic bot they’ve served us, just based on flavor profile and the way a PSL will make you feel as you sip. (Along with pumpkin, we usually pick out notes of coziness and nostalgia.) But apparently Starbucks is here to subvert our expectations. **Welcome to the digital future, anyway, where even food items have an active personal brand.** **Quiz**: [_We Can Guess Your Major Based on Your Style_](http://motto.time.com/4461770/whats-my-major-based-on-my-style/) > [](https://twitter.com/TheRealPSL/status/770281660424204288) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4473021/pumpkin-spice-latte-starbucks-facebook-chat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4473021/pumpkin-spice-latte-starbucks-facebook-chat/"},"headline":"Profess Your Love for the Pumpkin Spice Latte Directly By Chatting With the Starbucks Drink on Facebook","datePublished":"2016-08-30T20:01:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:01.812Z","description":"Its favorite color is orange, because of course","url":"https://time.com/4473021/pumpkin-spice-latte-starbucks-facebook-chat/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Social Media","Food & Drink"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5301e0006b773e6/6988a43acf40a84757c44a45/pumpkin-spice-latte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5301e0006b773e6/6988a43acf40a84757c44a45/pumpkin-spice-latte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"pumpkin-spice-latte","caption":"","creditText":"Starbucks","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4473021/pumpkin-spice-latte-starbucks-facebook-chat/","name":"Profess Your Love for the Pumpkin Spice Latte Directly By Chatting With the Starbucks Drink on Facebook"}}]}] ```