# The insane 2014 stunt Nathan Fielder will always regret: “Someone I never wanted to be”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-insane-2014-stunt-nathan-fielder-will-always-regret-someone-i-never-wanted-to-be/
- Published: 2026-10-30T02:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T03:11:05+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/2014-stunt-nathan-fielder-always-regret/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- “Dumb Starbucks” became a viral sensation.
- Fielder removed the shop owner from the project.
- The experience prompted reflection on his role in later work.

## Summary

Nathan Fielder’s 2014 “Dumb Starbucks” stunt turned a struggling coffee shop into a viral sensation, but it also made him question whether he had become the kind of self-centred figure his satire was meant to criticise. The episode’s central irony was that, while exposing the power of corporate branding, Fielder pushed aside the shop owner he had set out to help.

The stunt rebranded the shop with Starbucks imagery, relying on Fielder’s claim that adding “Dumb” made it parody under US law. After a photo spread online, customers queued for hours and media coverage grew; health officials later shut the shop for operating without a permit. Fielder said he had become “someone I never wanted to be”, a lesson the article connects to his later choice to take a less central role in his filmmaking.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.