#BoycottStarbucks trends online for an inclusive advert

The hashtag has been trending ever since the company unveiled its latest advertisement that promoted inclusivity.

Hyderabad: American multinational chain of coffeehouses, Starbucks is being vigorously trolled across social media platforms in India. #BoycottStarbucks has been trending ever since the company unveiled its latest advertisement that promoted inclusivity.

In their advert, the company pitches for accepting trans children and launched their #ItStartsWithYourName. The commercial shows parents accepting their son, Arpit, as a transgender woman, and the father who seemed uncomfortable at first orders coffee for her in the name of Arpita.

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“Your name defines who you are – whether it’s Arpit or Arpita. At Starbucks, we love and accept you for who you are. Because being yourself means everything to us,” they wrote in their caption.

Scores of users online revolted against this advertisement and said that it goes against the values of their culture. Many also said that Starbucks should “stick to just making coffee” and interfere in matters such as this.

“My dear Indian brothers and sisters can you stay away from Starbucks for one weekend? Can you skip you favourite Starbucks coffee just for one Saturday and Sunday?#Let’sStartWithOneWeekEnd Prevent this propaganda cancer from spreading further (sic),” wrote one user. Others also said that Indian chai is much better than their coffee.

Defending the coffeehouse, one user wrote, “First openly call out for a boycott of the PM who is part of this propaganda. If youre able to tweet on that we can assume you don’t have a bias. Boycotting a brand is easy. Boycotting your favorite politician is hard (sic).” Many others also joined him, supporting and calling for more such inclusive ads.

That said, a transgender barista at Starbucks in Hampshire, UK, was fired after she was caught on video escalating a heated argument with a female customer and allegedly scuffling with a man who filmed the incident.

The timing of this commercial is interesting though. It was released at a time when the Supreme Court of India was hearing pleas on legalising same-sex marriages. The court reserved the verdict on marriage equality on Thursday.

https://twitter.com/StarbucksIndia/status/1656133960924012545/