Two African Americans came to a Starbucks store to wait for their friends. They wanted to use the bathroom but were refused because they did not spend. The person in charge also reported to the police, who arrested them and released them due to insufficient evidence. However, the video was uploaded to the network, causing a huge stir. Starbucks immediately adopted a public relations crisis. The CEO of Starbucks issued a statement saying that Starbucks firmly opposed racial discrimination and personally apologized to the black people involved. Starbucks will subsidize the two people to go to college. Starbucks also closed 8000 Starbucks stores in the United States and conducted "anti-racial discrimination" training for all employees. Some people believe that the staff’s action is racist, while others believe that the two men affected the store’s normal operation, and there’s no need to apologize. In my opinion, no matter if it’s connected with racism, an apology from Starbucks is a wise decision.
As a fast-moving consumer goods giant, Starbucks must respond quickly to customers and public opinion. After the "racial discrimination" crisis, Starbucks quickly set up a crisis management team, and the company's top leader, the CEO, personally came forward to make a statement, clarify the facts, and take the initiative to apologize, which is very rare. Starbucks adopted soft public relations to resolve the problem. The specific method is to reach a consensus with the two parties and subsidize them to go to college. This behavior, not only effectively stabilized the emotions and interests of the two parties but also well reflected that Starbucks not only does not have racial discrimination but also is willing to subsidize African black people. This is an important step for Starbucks to fight against rumors with practical actions. Imagine that if Starbucks does not take action quickly to effectively prevent the spread of anti-bias rumors, Starbucks will not only lose 4 hours of operating income from 8000 stores. They will face greater negative public opinion pressure and lose more customers, especially those against racial discrimination.
Furthermore, Starbucks has a corporate social responsibility, Starbucks did not blame the responsibility on its employees, the company's management came forward to solve the problem. In the wake of this incident, Starbucks’ CEO, Kevin Johnson, has publicly apologized, and he has called for changes to its policy including “training around unconscious bias.” Kevin Johnson believes that successful training changes the discussion from ‘What did our employee do that was offensive,’ to ‘How can we learn and how can we change?’” Employees can understand Starbucks' views on combating racial discrimination and teach them how to deal with the special situations they may encounter. Maybe only one-day staff training would not play an ideal role, but Starbucks is willing to give up the sales for one day, close 8000 stores, and conduct staff training. I think it is worthy of our affirmation and praise.
“They’re not selling you a cup of coffee.” MIT Sloan senior lecturer Roberta Pittore said “They’re saying, ‘We’re the part of the community that you’re in when you’re not at the office and you’re not at home.” The success of this concept can attract people to Starbucks to drink coffee, rather than make coffee at home or have meetings at the office. After this incident, Starbucks changed its policy to allow customers without purchase to use their places in the store for free, including meeting rooms, restrooms, etc. That problem isn’t unique to Starbucks, either, Pittore noted — it’s a societal problem that came to a head in a very visual way. Starbucks accurately understands the needs of customers and makes quick responses and reactions to social problems. In addition to ensuring the quality of their coffee, they are also constantly improving their service capabilities. This is one of the success factors for Starbucks to maintain its market share among today's many coffee brands.
In conclusion, social problems similar to unconscious racial discrimination may not be solved by one employee training, but Starbucks' management's quick response and problem-solving attitude is the key factor for them to win back customers and public opinion successfully. At the core of Starbucks’ brand is the idea that its coffee shops can serve as a “third place” for meet-ups, studying, or work on the go. Although Starbucks' handling of this public relations crisis has not been recognized by everyone, they still adhere to their own marketing policy. After this event, in the Starbucks store, you can see the slogan "At Starbucks, we are proud to be a third place - a place between home and work where everyone is welcome. A place where everyone feels that they are long.” I think the reason why people still want to go to Starbucks for coffee is to enjoy a cup of delicious coffee and a life attitude in a comfortable "third place" with family and friends.
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