Starbucks has launched a new campaign that has coffee lovers all over the world inspired to make a change. It's called 'Upstanders' and it has taken over the company's website (and coffee sleeves). As the company states, 'Upstanders' "is an original collection of short stories, films and podcasts sharing the experiences of Upstanders – ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities. Produced by Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the Upstanders series helps inspire us to be better citizens" (Starbucks). Along with this, the term 'Upstander' is defined on the sleeve of Starbucks cups all over the nation as "a person who acts to make a positive change."
By highlighting ten different individuals acting to make changes in different parts of society, Starbucks has found a way to (hopefully) relate to everyone in some way and inspire outsiders to stand up for what they believe in. Some of the stories include The Empathetic Police Academy, about a woman working to make changes in the way police officers are trained and fulfill their duty. As well as The Mosque Across the Street, about a man welcoming a newly-built mosque into his community located in the heart of the Bible Belt. These two stories, along with eight more, make-up the Starbucks original series. Take the time to watch and listen to all of these stories; it is worthwhile.
You may be asking yourself, "Why is Starbucks doing this? Why can't they just stick to coffee?" and I hear you because I wondered the same thing. As mentioned in the Seattle Times, "Companies also have to enhance the emotional connection with consumers even outside the stores, and extend the relevancy of their brands" (Tu, Seattle Times). So it's a ploy to attract more customers, right? Wrong. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz admits that the company hopes that this campaign will attract more mobile users to the Starbucks mobile app, but there is no promotion of Starbucks' products in the videos therefore the intention was not advertisement. The intention is to inspire us to become people who stand up for what we believe in, aka, "Upstanders." In today's world, finding the courage to speak out against things that should be changed is a struggle for many, and Schultz recognizes that by stating, "'We’ve asked ourselves what is the role and responsibility of a public company and, as citizens, how we can catalyze hope in a time when we need more optimism, empathy, compassion and leadership," (Perez, TechCrunch).
Along with newly designed sleeves protecting our hands from the hot contents of a Starbucks drink, the company also plans to release audio versions of each story, launched weekly. While you will begin to notice unfamiliar coffee sleeves, you will hopefully also start to notice an increase in people standing up for change. As the company states, "We all have a choice to stand by or stand up." I choose to stand up, will you?
