‘Welp I’m never drinking Starbucks again’: Coffee lovers are boycotting the world’s largest coffee chain after being rocked by a disturbing discovery

It’s hard to overstate how, for many of us, Starbucks is a big part of our daily lives. We love to grab a coffee on the way to work, we love Pumpkin Spice Lattes and medicine balls, and we always like the new drinks the company rolls our every Summer season. But will we have to buy a cup of Joe somewhere else now?

The hashtag #BoycottStarbucks is trending on X because of some potentially shocking news: an X user posted that Starbucks is sponsoring the Republican National Convention, which is taking place from Monday, July 15th to Thursday, July 18th, 2024.

However, as Jaci Anderson, the director of corporate communications at Starbucks explained to We Got This Covered, Starbucks isn’t sponsoring or giving any money to the RNC… or to the DNC, for that matter. Instead, they are giving coffee to the volunteers and hosts of the RNC in Milwaukee, and will be serving coffee to those involved with the DNC, which will take place in Chicago in August 2024. Anderson said, “Our support of first responders and volunteers at the conventions is an extension of our ongoing commitment to the communities where we operate – which includes Milwaukee and Chicago.” Anderson also explained that Starbucks’ RNC/DNC presence is politically neutral.

If we go on the MKE 2024 Host Committee website, it states, “The Host Committee is a nonpartisan entity created to work with the City of Milwaukee in preparing for and successfully producing the Republican National Committee (RNC) convention.”

But X users thought Starbucks was sponsoring the RNC and weren’t happy. X user @HauntedMemphis wrote, “We urged you to #BoycottStarbucks years ago when they fired black workers who tried to organize a UNION. Y’all didn’t listen. What say you NOW?” Others said that people should be showing their neighborhood cafes some love anyway and that Starbucks is too pricey. These are all completely fair points.

If Starbucks DID sponsor the RNC, that would mean supporting Donald Trump, and we can see how people wouldn’t be thrilled with that. In May 2024, NBC News reported that consultants who work with corporations were hesitant to support Trump given how those optics would look. (We could have told them that!) It wouldn’t look great if this ended up being true.

As @mjxiggy pointed out, there has been some news about Starbucks and labor unions in the U.S. lately, which is why people were upset at the thought that they could be supporting the RNC. According to USA Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks when the chain let go of seven employees at a location in Tennessee in response to their unionization efforts. The group became known as “the Memphis 7.” Workers United President Lynne Fox said the ruling “underscores how the economy is rigged against working people.” As USA Today reported, supporting unions is a big part of President Biden’s administration, and this was a huge setback.

Reddit users also talked about thinking that the chain was supporting the RNC and one wrote. “Seeing the company drop even the pretense of progressivism is a sign of a larger cultural shift.” Another asked, “You ever thought Starbucks cared about you by paying minimum wage and fighting against unionization?”

While corporations supporting Republican candidates are nothing new, that isn’t what happened here. But since the upcoming election is particularly frightening, we understand everyone’s worries. Personally, I used to get a black coffee at Starbucks every day in college, grad school, and beyond, and now I make it at home using the brand’s coffee beans. I’m glad to know that I don’t have to find a new coffee shop (because I do really love their coffee).

This article has been updated following clarification from Starbucks.