#BoycottStarbucks
#BoycottStarbucks has been trending on social media platforms since November 2023. The popular multinational chain Starbucks has been facing backlash after condemning and suing Starbucks Workers United (SWU) for posting a pro-Palestine statement. This stems from the Israel-Palestine conflict that has plagued the Middle East for decades but recently erupted on October 7, 2023, after Hamas, a terrorist group that claims to represent Palestinian interests, attacked Israeli military posts and communities. So, when Starbucks sued these workers for issuing a pro-Palestine statement, many consumers felt they were pro-Israel and that Starbucks agreed with all the actions Israel has taken against Palestine in the past and currently.
This led to social media being used as a channel to bring accountability to Starbucks by raising awareness among its consumers in hopes of pressuring Starbucks to take an official stance and removing the lawsuit against SWU. As of December 2023 the hashtag "has been used on 7,000 TikTok videos in the United States during the past 30 days, with a combined 51 million views" (Tenbarge 2023). These figures emphasize the great outreach social media has and although it is unclear the financial hit Starbucks has taken, many speculate the joining together of consumers has led to a decline in sales as Starbucks has been issuing promotions and deals.
Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-hamas-war-gaza-iran-libya-morocco-turkey-ap-photos-e29d1c1da21bb2ee11511682580eaae9
https://apnews.com/article/starbucks-war-palestinians-israel-boycott-labor-3b1165fc74ed181a4a5dad2106779922
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/21/hamas-says-october-7-attack-was-a-necessary-step-admits-to-some-faults
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/social-media-fuels-boycotts-mcdonalds-starbucks-israel-hamas-war-rcna125121
I haven't heard much about the boycott except a post here and there. I would love to know if this caused any drastic changes in their revenue or sales. I visit Starbucks time to time if I don't feel like making it myself and I haven't noticed a chance in their foot traffic from this. I feel like this is one of those boycotts where you would have had to see it on social media to know it was a thing.
ReplyDeleteI heard about the Starbucks boycott but did not know much information about it. You made the excellent point in that Hamas is indeed a terrorist organization. However, they do not represent Palestine nor its interests. It is possible to both disagree with the Hamas and still support Palestine. Unfortunately, Starbucks did not understand this distinction and made an extremely unpopular move. Their actions against Starbucks Workers United do paint them in a negative light. It does seem like they completely support Israel and its actions towards the Palestinian people.
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