AboutCoffee(s).com

It seems that earlier this year, the Starbucks Coffee Company was the subject of a boycott campaign targeting U.S. companies that do business in the Middle East. Amongst the rumors was the accusation that these companies that were supposedly donating profits to Israel in support of the war in Gaza.

The rumors circulated via email, on social networking sites like Facebook and conspiracy websites. Most of the U.S. based companies (McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Hut and cigarette maker Phillip Morris) have explicitly denied the rumors on their websites and in interviews. Starbucks has even gone so far as to create rumor dispelling literature in English and Arabic.

“As a true Muslim do that. [boycott] Tell your family, friends, and neighbors and stop for one month.” read one email being circulated in Arabic. The Facebook group has more than 7,000 members hailing from the U.S., Arab world, Europe and Indonesia and Malaysia.

A search for the keywords “boycott Gaza” returned 45 groups in English, French and Arabic calling for a boycott of companies that allegedly support Israel’s war on Gaza. Starbucks and McDonalds were among the most targeted.

Starbucks posted a statement on its website to combat the persistent rumors about the company and its CEO’s support for Israel.

“Rumors that Starbucks Coffee Company and its management support Israel are unequivocally false. Starbucks is a non-political organization and we do not support any political causes anywhere in the world,” it said.

Starbucks has sought to debunk rumors alleging a link between its CEO Howard Schultz and the Israeli Armed Forces as far back as 2006, though the rumor has resurfaced during the most recent conflict.

“Whenever there is tension in the region most U.S. headquartered organizations, they are targets,” said Rana Shaheen, communications manager for Starbucks Middle East. “Along with Starbucks you have McDonalds, Coke, the list is never ending. These rumors may have originated because the CEO happens to be a Jew,” she told AlArabiya.net, but underscored that Starbucks itself does not have a political agenda. “The political views of any employee at any level – and the chain of command is very long – has no bearing whatsoever on the company brand.”

Starbucks launched a Middle East website, and has produced literature to help correct such disinformation campaigns.  On the site the company states that the boycotts ” which are based on blatant untruths, have had direct impacts on local economies and residents, and have also led to violent situations involving our stores, partners (employees) and customers.”

A boycott of Danish products last year and in 2006 in retaliation for the publication of offensive cartoons dealt a significant blow to the profits companies with a significant presence in the Middle East. Whether the proposed boycotts would have the intended economic effect on the U.S., however, was unclear, since as several companies pointed out they hire local workers and support the local economy.

In their “Facts About Starbucks Coffee Company” on http://me.starbucks.com release the company dispels the following rumors while highlighting some of the socially responsible programs they have in the middle east.

• “Starbucks Coffee Company is a non-political organization and does not support or engage in political or religious causes or activities. Allegations that Starbucks provides financial support to the Israeli government and/or the Israeli Army in any way are completely false.”
• “It is absolutely untrue that Starbucks has ever sent any of its profits to the Israeli government and/or Israeli
  Army, or that, as more recently rumored, we have teamed with other American corporations to send several weeks of profits to Israel.”
• “The political preferences or personal beliefs of any Starbucks partner (employee) have absolutely no bearing on Starbucks company policies.”
• “The Starbucks logo does not represent Esther, the Old Testament Jewish Queen of Persia. This confusion
  arose from a perceived resemblance between the cover illustration of a children’s book “Esther saves her People”
  published in 1998, and the Starbucks logo which had been created nearly 30 years earlier in 1971.”
• “On 2006, a fabricated letter supposedly written by Howard Schultz, was posted on the internet by a German
  journalist. In the spoof letter, the fictional Schultz said that Starbucks contributed to Israel’s security systems
  and weaponry. By the journalist’s own admission the letter was intended to amuse its readers. The letter was
  in no way factual.”

Through a licensing agreement with trading partner and licensee MH Alshaya WLL, a private Kuwait family business, Starbucks has operated in the Middle East since 1999. Today Alshaya Group, recognized as one of the leading and most influential retailing franchisees in the region, operates more than 283 Starbucks stores in Egypt, Kuwait, KSA, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Jordan and Lebanon.

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