“Boycott Starbucks” trends on Twitter: Here’s the advertisement that stirred controversy

New Delhi: Every day is a “Boycott Day” on Twitter. One cannot predict what next thing has “hurt the sentiment” of Twitterati. It can be a person, a brand, or even an entire country for that matter.

This time, it was none other than the coffee chain Starbucks who had to bear the association with a Boycott hashtag on Twitter.

The Boycott army attacked Starbucks after the coffee chain franchise dropped the latest advertisement.

Starbucks Controversial Advertisement

Starbucks India shared a new advertisement via its Twitter handle. The advertisement showed a transgender person meeting his parents after a long time. The ad aimed to promote acceptance and awareness about the issue.

As Starbucks is known for writing the name of the customers on their orders, the video showed a father and mother meeting their Transgender son Arpit after a long period of time. Later we see a young woman heading inside the coffee shop.

The advertisement ends with the Father accepting his transgender child and accepting his new identity as Arpita.

Take a look at the ad:

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. #ItStartsWithYourName. ? pic.twitter.com/DKNGhKZ1Hg

— Starbucks India (@StarbucksIndia) May 10, 2023

However, it is obvious that the ad didn’t get the response it was aiming for. Rather, Starbucks became the target of Netizens’ wrath who accused the multinational company of promoting sex change surgery and transgender agenda.

Meanwhile, some users accused Starbucks of doing unnecessary “wokism” with its latest ad.

On the other hand, DCW Chief Swati Maliwal backed up the advertisement. She tweeted in support of the company saying that those who are opposing this brilliant ad should get a life.

It’s a brilliant advertisement by @StarbucksIndia which supports LGBTQI+ persons. The people opposing this ad need to get real and get a life! #ItStartsWithYourName https://t.co/SQuyMU44CY

— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) May 12, 2023