r/BDS • u/slippin_through_life • Mar 12 '24
ASK THE SUB Is it effective to boycott a campus branch of Starbucks?
Hello everyone, I wasn’t aware that Starbucks was a company to boycott until about an hour ago, so I was wondering about the logistics of boycotting a Starbucks branch that is located on a college campus and is part of a college meal program. For context, you can use real money at this Starbucks, but most use a special kind of currency called flex dollars that is included as part of your meal plan.
My question is whether boycotting this Starbucks would be effective or not, since I’m not sure if it works the same as non-campus branches of Starbucks where the profits are obviously going to corporate. Part of the reason why I’m reluctant is because a large percentage of the workers at this Starbucks are members of the larger city community (i.e. not students who could easily find another job) and I don’t think they deserve to be harmed because of actions they weren’t complicit in.
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u/Owl_Machine Mar 12 '24
Your flex dollars still translate to starbucks profit.
The campus starbucks is still generating revenue through the meal plan and most likely validates that revenue using these flex dollars. It also likely has targets to meet and receives revenue according to those targets, whether proportionately or on a tier system.
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u/therealorangechump Mar 12 '24
I don’t think they deserve to be harmed
consuming Starbucks coffee hurts other brands including local shops and their workers.
boycotting is not an analytical decision where you weigh the positive vs negative effects of your action. it is a decision you make as a matter of principle - not a single penny of my money will go to support a genocidal state, period.
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u/slippin_through_life Mar 12 '24
Yes, but it’s on-campus, where there aren’t any alternatives that aren’t chains.
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u/therealorangechump Mar 12 '24
so? buy from a different chain.
listen, if you can't live without your Starbucks buy Starbucks. boycotting is not for everyone, for some it is just too much.
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u/slippin_through_life Mar 12 '24
I plan to; I was just adding the explanation as to why I wasn’t buying from a local coffee shop.
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u/ih8comingupwithnames Mar 12 '24
Even if it isn't on the list their union-busting tactics are abhorrent and make me not want to spend there.
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u/spacebarcorn Mar 12 '24
Wait, what? Is Starbucks really on the boycott list? /s
This is a strange realisation nearly 5 months into the boycott. Genuine question: Were you in a coma?
The point of these stores on campus is to familiarise you with association with the brand and its products so that when you actually go out into the world, you'd prefer it over the better alternatives by default.
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u/slippin_through_life Mar 12 '24
No; I just don’t use TikTok or Twitter, which is primarily where the Starbucks boycott was being pushed from my understanding as I never saw mention of it when I checked Instagram (which I also use pretty sparingly). It also was not mentioned as a company to boycott by the campus’s divestment organization.
I agree with what you’re saying about brand recognition leading to more patronage than local coffee shops, but for context in my hometown, there are no local coffee shops, just chains.
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u/spacebarcorn Mar 13 '24
Fair point. The Starbucks boycott kicked off quite early when they sued their Workers Union, which took a pro resistance/anti apartheid stance at the beginning of the conflict. I have personally divested all the business dealings with Starbucks of my outfit and have since found that the homegrown alternatives are, in fact, better.
A lesser know fact is that Starbucks has been systematically dismissing partners who are vocal about Palestine on their social media.
The local coffee shops don't usually stick out, and Starbucks usually tends to run local businesses to the ground by out pricing them to create monopolies. It wasn't easy to recognise the local alternatives to us either because they can't afford the branding and outreach Starbucks has, however, if you consciously put a bit more effort into it, you'd be surprised how many places there actually are.
Good luck with your efforts. Let's make this world a better place for all human beings and use this movement to maximise the destruction of unfair and inhumane corporations.
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u/slippin_through_life Mar 14 '24
That’s true. For context though, my hometown is a suburb that has few walkable areas and no public transport. So not many locally-owned shops and restaurants; you’d have to go to the neighboring city for that. I will try do some more research to see if I can find alternatives there, but I have low expectations.
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u/RedMenace-1798 Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
Edit: I'm retracting these comments because while Starbucks isn't a BDS target, I have been under the impression that the Starbucks shareholder who had financial ties to the state of Israel stepped down last September. I was going off of someone else's research I trusted but looking now that might be incorrect so until I know for sure I don't want to be spreading misinformation, apologies
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u/sum-sigma Mar 12 '24
Starbucks isn’t on the official BDS list, however it has targeted its employees for standing in solidarity with Palestine. Starbucks is currently suing their workers for their solidarity with Palestine.
In addition, the CEO is a staunch zionist. People are boycotting for a reason, the CEO is a Zionist and a supporter of Israel: Starbucks CEO an Active Zionist.
So by supporting Starbucks, you support zionism which in turn supports the genocide of the Palestinian People and the targeting of pro-Palestinian employees.
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Mar 13 '24
Starbucks is on the boycott list depending on which one you look at. Theres no "official one"
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u/RedMenace-1798 Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
Edit: I'm retracting these comments because while Starbucks isn't a BDS target, I have been under the impression that the Starbucks shareholder who had financial ties to the state of Israel stepped down last September. I was going off of someone else's research I trusted but looking now that might be incorrect so until I know for sure I don't want to be spreading misinformation, apologies
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u/sum-sigma Mar 12 '24
You’ve reposted this comment so much it makes me think that you support Starbucks even when their CEO is a zionist and is actively targeting their pro-Palestinian employees.
Starbucks isn’t on the official BDS list, however it has targeted its employees for standing in solidarity with Palestine. Starbucks is currently suing their workers for their solidarity with Palestine.
In addition, the CEO is a staunch zionist. People are boycotting for a reason, the CEO is a Zionist and a supporter of Israel: Starbucks CEO an Active Zionist.
So by supporting Starbucks, you support zionism which in turn supports the genocide of the Palestinian People and the targeting of pro-Palestinian employees.
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u/RedMenace-1798 Mar 13 '24
You’ve reposted this comment so much it makes me think that you support Starbucks even when their CEO is a zionist and is actively targeting their pro-Palestinian employees.
Fuck no, I've never even been to Starbucks in my life. I was reposting it because I've been under the impression that Starbucks no longer had any sort of financial ties to the state of Israel, someone else who was meant to have researched into that for a direct action that was supposed to be happening against Starbucks came back and told me he read into it and there was no financial ties and he's normally bang on with everything so I took his word for it. I've also seen others say that we're making cunts out of ourselves by wrongly advocating for the boycott of Starbucks so I was concerned with that spreading more.
It was actually your comment that helped me to find that they do still have ties. While the link you provided is 18 years old and names their former CEO I did manage to find that even tho he isn't their CEO anymore he still owns a significant amount of shares with Starbucks so that's why I ended up taking those comments back. Thank you for that. Honestly, I really needed that information, so thank you.
I still don't think we should advocate for Starbucks to be boycotted as part of BDS tho as it undermines the targeted boycott strategy that they explain on their website. I'm all for people individually boycotting Starbucks, there's lots of companies not on the BDS list that I still personally boycott. I just think we should focus on telling people to boycott the companies on the BDS list so people are more likely to follow the boycott and not get burnt out and give up. The BDS website describes this better than I do tho.
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u/willflameboy Mar 12 '24
but most use a special kind of currency called flex dollars that is included as part of your meal plan.
That is so insidious. It means they're getting taking campus funding and turning it into Starbucks-only tokens.
Yes, it would be effective. If they are complicit in apartheid it is morally just to do it. You wouldn't worry about the workers if it was a gun manufacturer.
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u/slippin_through_life Mar 12 '24
I mean I would be if they had literally no other options. There aren’t many opportunities for “unskilled labor” here, so working at campus restaurants/dining halls might be one of their only options.
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Mar 12 '24
Its overpriced water and sugar. You can make better at home. Its worth not buying anything from them. They have unfair working conditions and treat employees poorly. Do you want to support that?
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u/sparklefield Mar 12 '24
Of course it is! How necessary is coffee anyway? Just take some from home.
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Mar 12 '24
Any boycott is effective plus even if not, doing it means you're playing your past for the greater good.
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u/djscrambleddicks Mar 13 '24
Often on-campus stores are not part of corporate Starbucks, just licensed to use the name/ beans/ menu. For instance the employees likely do not work for Starbucks, but for the school/ dining hall instead.It will not be as direct as boycotting an actual Starbucks location, no.
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u/slippin_through_life Mar 14 '24
Do you know if there’s a way to confirm this? Like would it be listed on the school’s website?
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u/djscrambleddicks Mar 16 '24
You can just ask the employees. They’re either employed by Starbucks or someone else (dining hall, franchisee, etc). They’ll know who pays them.
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u/mekkyz-stuffz Mar 13 '24
Stay consistent when boycotting Starbucks. They did sue union organizations for siding with palestine.
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u/natural212 Mar 16 '24
I have a card I can use on campus. I will choose any brand except Starbucks.
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u/Nervous-Savings2251 Mar 12 '24
An effective rule of thumb to stay consistent with the targeted boycott against Starbucks is to never consume Starbucks coffee or other products. If you and others do that then the boycott work. I hope this helps.