The road to Starbucks is paved with good intentions.
Starbucks said it is encouraging its baristas to discuss race relations with customers. Baristas will be writing "Race Together" on cups and "may also engage customers in conversation through Race Together stickers available in select stores," the company announced in a press release.
The move is a part of an initiative from the coffee-shop chain that the company said grew out of conversations that CEO Howard Schultz had with Starbucks employees and open forums the company held for employees throughout various cities.
How would the conversations with customers start? In a video message to employees, Schultz implied that the baristas would write "Race Together" on cups but that it would be up to the customers to take it from there. "If a customer asks you what this is, try and engage in a discussion, that we have problems in this country with regard to race and racial equality, and we believe we're better than this, and we believe the country is better than this," Schultz told his workforce. "And if this makes you have a conversation with a customer about the need for compassion, the need for empathy, the need for love towards others -- if you can do that with one customer, one day, then you're making a significant difference."
Schultz has been one of the most outspoken CEOs, having come out strongly in support of gay marriage and gun control.
Schultz said in the video that he had been advised that the company should avoid discussing the issue of race but disagreed with that stance.
"There were some people that said, 'Howard, this is not a subject we should touch. This is not for you. This is not for our company. This is for someone else,'" he said. "I reject that. I reject that completely because we can't leave this for someone else."
As part of effort, Starbucks also took out a full-page ad in the New York Times on Sunday and USA Today on Monday.
While encouraging employees to delve into race with customers might seem out of the ordinary for any other company, Paul Argenti, professor of corporate communication at Dartmouth University, said Starbucks under Schultz has a history of dealing with socially important topics.
"I think Starbucks likes to do things that attract attention in a way that they can engage people in conversation on what's going on," Argenti said. "Right now, because race relations and tensions have been running high... I think they probably looked out there and said, 'What can we do to deal with this?'"
Argenti added that there are big risks, but that Schultz tended not to care.
"I think it's risky for a company to deal with something that's this big an issue for sure, but this guy is not someone who demurs when there's something going on whether it's about gun control or whatever," Argenti said. "It's a little bit pie in the sky and I'm sure it will piss some people off, but that's how Howard Schultz goes."
Twitter, predictably, had a field day with the news.
y'all realize there are no coloured hands in the press photos right @Starbucks #RaceTogether pic.twitter.com/Epd9knTYfz— black power alt bro (@vidalwuu) March 17, 2015
In my TL: black and white people talking about how they make better coffee than Starbucks. #unity— S'all Good, Man (@InternetEh) March 17, 2015
Lemme explain this to @Starbucks: I don't think you want black ppl on their way to work discussing race before they had their coffee, bruh.— Cirque du SoBae (@brownandbella) March 17, 2015
Hope now that Starbucks has begun its #RaceTogether campaign we'll begin to take the issues of cream privilege & milk supremacy seriously.— Tamara (@LibertarianSass) March 17, 2015
Would you like your racism with or without foam? #Starbucks— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) March 17, 2015