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Things to Do

Starbucks' "Race Together" campaign spurs #NewStarbucksDrinks amid backlash

By Jennifer Brett
March 18, 2015

Love it or hate it, Starbucks' "Race Together" campaign certainly has showcased the creativity of thousands of Twitter users.

The program, whereby baristas are supposed to engage customers in discussions of race issues, spurred first a blizzard of mocking tweets and then gave way to #NewStarbucksDrinks.

Starbucks wants to engage customers in discussions of race.

Credit: Jennifer Brett

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Credit: Jennifer Brett

In a somewhat undialoguey move, Corey DuBrowa, Starbucks' Senior Vice President of Communications, deleted his Twitter account rather than respond to users' comments about the campaign.

"The tweets represented a distraction from the respectful conversation we're trying to have around Race Together," he said in a statement to PR Week.

While Starbucks' chief PR guy sits out the conversation his company launched, Twitter commentary is going strong.

Here's a sample:

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