Together campaign comes apart

A Starbucks PR campaign to unite customers with conversations about race appears to have backfired.

“Black Coffees Matter,” “African-Americano” and “Stolen-from-the-Gold-Coast Blend” – these aren’t unfortunate slogans for Starbucks drinks but jokes about the coffee chain’s latest marketing campaign.

The race-related puns are just one aspect of a trending hashtag begun after the company launched “Race Together.”

Starbucks says it wanted to engage customers in a conversation about race after protests about police treatment of minority communities and race-related social movements online.

This involves baristas scribbling the words “Race Together” on cups and attempting to “engage customers in conversation through Race Together stickers available in select stores.”

But instead of conversation over caffeine, social media hijacked the #racetogether hashtag.

Starbucks has explained the origins of what many are calling an awkward and cringe-inducing initiative.

“We at Starbucks should be willing to talk about these issues in America,” says chief executive and chairman Howard Schultz.

“Not to point fingers or to place blame, and not because we have answers, but because staying silent is not who we are.”

Starbucks is not the first to misjudge public sentiments and be lambasted online.

In 2014, #mynypd by the New York City police department backfired, with social media users tweeting images of NYPD violence, abuse and racial profiling.

“Race Together is not a solution,” Starbucks insists, but “it is an opportunity to begin to re-examine how we can create a more empathetic and inclusive society.”

Despite these intentions, indications are #RaceTogether could be a decidedly one-way conversation.