Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has taken on a potential polarizing political debate: Race Relations. Schulz, who has also involved his company is other national debates like, gun control and same-sex marriage, is not backing down from yet another controversial stand.
As an executive of more than 4,700 stores, he has been advised this is not his issue to fight, but he doesn’t agree. Schultz desires to stimulate conversation, debate and get Americans thinking about how they interact with other races.
Starbucks baristas are known for writing your name on your cup, but they’ve now been prompted to write #RaceTogether to start the discussion about race. To show that they are serious about this campaign, they’ve published a full page ad in the New York Times and USA Today which has a circulation of 2 million.
Could you imagine being a barista and attempting to start a discussion about race, when all the person wants is a Caramel Latte? That might be very tricky, but Schultz has said that baristas are under no obligation to actually engage with the customers on race. He’s also met with almost 2,000 Starbucks employees in the cites most affected by police brutality over the last year. We will surely be watching to see how this campaign unfolds.
BMWK, would you be interested in having a debate about race at your local Starbucks? What do you think of this idea?