Since the mid seventeenth century, European
coffee houses have been centres for
vigorous discourse and dialogue; great incubators of ideas. They
have been the locus for the exchange of news & opinions and of business,
literary, philosophical and moral discussion.
The Crikey of the
day.

In an
attempt to get customers talking while they sip their
hazelnut-decaffa-soy-white-mocha-no-whip-macchialatte-with-a-twist (or some
other robusta-beaned abomination that Americans pretend is coffee), Starbucks
has been putting quotes on their paper cups.
(It is a given that great coffee is never served in a paper cup, but that
is another discussion.) The quote series is called “The way I see it”.

Number 43 in the series is from Armistead
Maupin:

“My only regret about being gay is
that I repressed it for so long. I
surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there
loving someone. Don’t make that mistake
yourself. Life’s too damn
short.”

Concerned Women of
America, a “traditional family values” organization is
outraged by this quote. When an image of the
offending cup was shown on the CWA website the word “damn” was blacked out. However, one
gets the feeling that “damn” was
the lesser sin. Although
CWA is not officially calling for a Starbucks boycott, some of its members
are.

A Starbucks spokesman
said the cups would not be withdrawn. “Embracing diversity and treating people
with dignity is one of the guiding principles of our
corporation.” He added: “As a company
committed to embracing diversity and inclusion, we welcome differing points of
view and realize that people express their opinions in many ways, including the
Internet and in articles.” They will welcome the feedback storm. And a storm it will be, as CWA has published the name
and email address for Starbucks public affairs. They promoted a similar email
campaign following the exposure of Janet Jackson’s
nipple.

The
land of the free. A nation founded following a revolution based on many values,
concepts and ideals developed in coffee houses. That nation, founded on principles of human rights and
freedom, has spawned elements that would only extend the
freedom to express opinions to those who agree with a neo-con party
line.

The concept of wide ranging, open
debate and discussion in coffee houses is just too European, perhaps even too
French.

Is this is a very successful attempt
by Starbucks to generate publicity? Or
maybe, by drawing attention to the outside of the cup, no-one will notice what’s
in it.

Rob LakeDirector