Customers boycott Starbucks

Customers at Starbucks have mixed reactions to the perception that the coffee chain has made political comments about the war in Gaza.

“I don’t think chain restaurants or anything like that should be involved with politics,” says Marisol Rubio, Broadcast Journalism student.  “I think it doesn’t have to do with it at all, so they shouldn’t be funding any place that is harming other countries.”

Bianca Gonzalez, also a broadcast journalism student, says a corporation this big can persuade people with their voice.

“It’s very unfortunate because a huge corporation like that has a huge voice and it’s very impactful and it is very unfair to their consumers who are kind of like innocent in all of this,” Gonzalez says.

Starbucks Workers United, the company’s union, put out a post on X, showing its support for the Palestinians in the wake of the initial Hamas attack against Israel.

Starbucks sued the union for trademark infringement, after complaints from customers who believed the chain endorsed the message and supported terrorism.

Rubio said she no longer buys Starbucks products.

“I used to buy it all the time, but now with Gaza and everything going on and them supporting them, I don’t buy any more,” says Rubio.

Journalism instructor Jim Boren says when corporations take a political stand, it can hurt their business.

“Well, it’s a tricky issue.  Obviously, you want to appeal to a large number of customers, and you don’t want to anger anyone on one side or the other of a political issue,” says Boren.

He also says corporations try to play it safe when showing their political stance.

“I think for the most part, most corporations try to balance it out so that they can get people from all sides of the political to buy their product,” says Boren.