Campaign Outsider

Let’s Come Together, America

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Posted by Howard S., Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer

There are moments in our lives when we have an opportunity to ignite tremendous positive change—not just in the lives of the customers and communities we serve every day, but in our country. This was evident in the outpouring of support in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary that claimed 26 innocent lives, including one of our partners (employees), Lauren Rousseau.

This spirit of connectedness and humanity is powerful; so powerful that if we unleash it, we can make a difference on a much grander scale.

In the spirit of the Holiday season and the Starbucks tradition of bringing people together, we have a unique opportunity to unite and take action on an incredibly important topic. As many of you know, our elected officials in Washington D.C. have been unable to come together and compromise to solve the tremendously important, time-sensitive issue to fix the national debt. You can learn more about this impending crisis at www.fixthedebt.org.

Rather than be bystanders, we have an opportunity—and I believe a responsibility—to use our company’s scale for good by sending a respectful and optimistic message to our elected officials to come together and reach common ground on this important issue. This week through December 28, partners in our Washington D.C. area stores are writing “Come Together” on customers’ cups.

It’s a small gesture, but the power of small gestures is what Starbucks is about! Imagine the power of our partners and hundreds of thousands of customers each sharing such a simple message, one cup at a time.

Never before have we asked our partners to write something specific on our customers’ cups. These words express the optimism that’s core to the holiday season, to our country’s heritage, and to our Starbucks Mission. This effort is also being amplified by our friends at AOL and Patch who are joining us in activating their hyper-local network of websites to share the “Come Together” message at patch.com/fixthedebt.

My hope is that this simple message will serve as a holiday reminder from Starbucks of the spirit that has always bridged differences and that we all have the power to come together and make a difference during every season of the year.

I wish you the warmest holiday wishes and a very happy New Year.

Howard

Sweet, if confusing, as this Washington Wire post noted:

Applause, Confusion Over Starbucks’s ‘Come Together’

Earlier this week, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz asked baristas in Washington-area stores to encourage lawmakers to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff by writing “Come Together” on every cup. Stores elsewhere in the country have also written the message. As the effort launched Thursday, customers commemorated their morning coffee on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, with some customers applauding Starbucks’s effort, while others mocked it — and quite a few noticed the message but weren’t sure what it meant.

What it means is that Starbucks is aligned with all the other corporate interests behind Fix the Debt, which liberals say is a front group dedicated to protecting the gilterati.

Several pages later, it’s the Onorati occupying the Times:

That ad comes compliments of Artists Against Fracking, which “works to expose and stop the harmful and contaminating practice of fracking for natural gas and oil through mass awareness and peaceful democratic action. At its core, we believe that fracking for shale gas is a danger to New Yorkers. Inevitably, the process leads to the  release of toxic chemicals — many of which are unknown and unreported — into our air and water.”

And onto the pages of the New York Times.

At six figures a pop.

Call it Yoko’s ad$rtavaganza. Ditto for Star(big)bucks.

As the Supreme Court says, money is speech.

Just another sign of the Times.