Why did the coffee of India ad stir a boycott call?

Starbucks launched a transgender-themed advertisement in India starring transgender actress Sia, telling the story of a couple who accept their child's transition. The film shows the father ordering coffee and using a feminized version of his son's name. Reaction split quickly, with supporters praising inclusiveness and opponents calling for a boycott.

Starbucks responded that the ad received a good response in India, without withdrawing it. The case fits a pattern of brands using social themes to reach younger urban drinkers in a market where coffee of India, including filter coffee and cafe chains, is growing fast. Whether the campaign helps or hurts sales in the coming quarters is still open.

Global coffee chain giant Starbucks recently launched a transgender-themed scenario advertisement in the Indian market, starring well-known transgender actress Sia, telling a heartwarming story of an Indian couple gradually accepting their child's gender identity transition. Once the ad was released, it caused an uproar on local social media, with supporters praising it for conveying a message of inclusiveness, while opponents called for a boycott. Facing the polarized public opinion, Starbucks officially responded that the ad had a "good response" in India. Is this brand marketing campaign around gender issues a successful breakthrough or a misstep? This article will walk you through the full picture of the incident and voices from all sides.

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Inviting celebrities or influencers with tens of millions of followers to endorse and build momentum has long been a common practice in brand marketing, and under normal circumstances it seems unlikely to cause much of a stir. However, recently, the world's largest coffee chain company, Starbucks, found itself caught in a huge controversy over a promotional video, with many believing it may have "messed up."

According to foreign media reports, Starbucks India recently released a video advertisement starring famous Indian transgender actress Sia. Because the ad's content touches on transgender issues, it quickly sparked fierce discussion online, with some Indian netizens even directly saying, "Get out of India!"

It is reported that this advertisement adopted the form of a short scenario drama, with the core plot revolving around an Indian couple accepting their child's "transition"——

Specifically, a couple sits in a Starbucks store, waiting for their son whom they have not contacted for a long time, but in the end, the person who appears before them is a "young woman." It can be inferred from the video that the couple's son has completed "transition," and perhaps it is precisely this change that made the meeting awkward at first.

But immediately afterward, when the father gets up to order coffee at the counter, he deliberately uses a feminized variant of his son's name. When the barista calls out that name, the lead actress's face is filled with shock and emotion, and the family then gets along harmoniously, full of warmth.

One more thing: Starbucks baristas usually write customers' names on the cups.

The advertisement's tagline is — "No matter who you are, Starbucks accepts you and supports you in bravely being yourself."

What exactly does transgender mean?! 🔍

Based on online sources, its meaning is — "gender identity is higher than biological sex, and psychological gender determines actual gender." That is to say, when a person feels that their gender identity is inconsistent with the biological sex assigned to them at birth (for example, biologically male but internally identifying as female, and vice versa), whatever gender they identify with internally is what they are.

After Starbucks' promotional video was released, it quickly sparked widespread debate on social platforms. Under trending topics on domestic social platforms, some people can be seen expressing appreciation, believing that it conveys a signal of inclusiveness and acceptance, commenting:

"What's there to argue about?", "It's pretty good, what's the problem?", "The more backward the place, the less tolerant it is of others", "Pretty good, this time I stand with Starbucks", "You have the freedom to transition, and others also have the freedom not to accept it"...

But at the same time, many people criticized this advertisement as "too woke," and some even said bluntly: "LOL, get out of India!"

Some netizens also said: "Although I don't really get along with India, I hope Indians can be tougher! This kind of obvious and malicious value orientation is truly disgusting!", "The United States is trying to promote its more than one hundred genders to the whole world", "LGBT... the United States has already started making moves in various countries", "wokeism"...

According to Huanqiu.com, in the face of all kinds of controversy, a Starbucks spokesperson responded that this video advertisement had a "good response" in India, and that Starbucks' store image in India has always been "warm and inclusive."

The spokesperson also added that Starbucks has long provided legal and psychological support internally for transgender employees, and will also assist transgender employees in modifying relevant information on their birth certificates.

Although foreign countries have generally been more inclusive of transgender groups, when brands choose spokespeople or promoters, their image, positioning, and fit still need to be carefully evaluated and considered; otherwise, it is indeed very easy to trigger controversy and then face the risk of "messing up."

What do you think about this? Does Starbucks' marketing this time count as a success?

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.