Starbucks boycott backfires after vow to hire 10,000 refugees

Another social media hashtag activism effort by conservatives has backfired this week as the #BoycottStarbucks hash tag was hijacked by those who love refugees as well as coffee.

In response to a recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting Muslims and refugees from war torn Syria, Seattle based coffee chain, Starbucks, announced it will hire 10,000 refugees worldwide over the next five years. With nearly 240,000 global employees this represents a 4% addition to their workforce.

Conservatives immediately criticized this move by Starbucks on social media and soon the second boycott of the coffee giant in less than 6 months began trending on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/LeahR77/status/826164904717586432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Before long, supporters of the company began to troll the hashtag in support of the company, some pledging to “Drink starbucks to fight bigotry.”

https://twitter.com/alienmagicman/status/826103738305769472

While some boycott supporters were worried that refugees might put explosives in their coffee, or otherwise taint the caffeinated morning beverage we all know and love, others used the boycott to call attention to veteran unemployment and suggest that Starbucks focus their hiring efforts on those who served our country. Since 2013 Starbucks has hired over 5,500 U.S. veterans and military spouses.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said the company would “start this effort here in the U.S. by making the initial focus of our hiring efforts on those individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel in the various countries where our military has asked for such support.”

In November, supporters of then president-elect Donald Trump launched a protest of Starbucks when a barista refused to write “Trump” on a customer’s cup. The boycott was ultimately unsuccessful as it included purchasing a coffee from the company in order to write “Trump” on the cup.

Time will tell if this round of boycotts has any effect on the company.

Dan Webb, Political Correspondent for Lima Charlie News.

Dan Webb is a former U.S. Air Force Airborne Systems Engineer on the RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft. He completed three deployments to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom totaling over 1200 combat flight hours. He currently works as a software engineer for an Omaha based marketing agency. Previously he worked for the Office of Military and Veteran Services at the University of Nebraska Omaha where, as a student, he received his B.S. in Political Science with a minor in Economics. Dan’s interests include domestic economic policy, veteran’s issues, and national security. Follow Dan on Twitter @DanWebbLC  & listen to Dan every week on the Horse Race political podcast.

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