When Starbucks launched the Race Together campaign this week, its goals seemed grandly ambitious but well intentioned: improve the state of race relations in America, one cup of coffee at a time.
So what went wrong? By Tuesday afternoon, the initiative had been panned across Twitter and media outlets. Entrepreneur called it "worse than a Band-Aid solution – it’s one that could actively hurt employees and businesses," while Salon described it as "cringe-inducing" and Slate said it was "awkward."
The best Twitter responses to Starbucks' cringe-inducing #RaceTogether campaign http://t.co/uvtI21yNMo pic.twitter.com/fCFDvfE1J8
— Salon.com (@Salon) March 17, 2015
Others noticed that some images promoting the initiative only featured the hands of white employees.
Oh my, the press photos for Starbucks' #RaceTogether initiative are all very pale. http://t.co/dPbhdz5FbJ pic.twitter.com/YxwVdxzji2
— Tim Newman (@tnewmstweet) March 17, 2015
So what went wrong? Take our poll below or tweet at @prweekus with your answer.
