The Biggest Scandals To Ever Hit Starbucks

In 2016, Starbucks was sued by two people in California, Siera Strumlauf and Benjamin Robles, who claimed the chain underfilled lattes by 25 percent in order to cut costs. The New York Daily News reported that the lawsuit stated, "By underfilling its lattes, thereby shortchanging its customers, Starbucks has saved countless millions of dollars in the cost of goods sold and was unjustly enriched by taking payments for more product than it delivers." 

Strumlauf and Robles said the company had a "systematic conspiracy" to make sure the steamed milk never reached the correct full line. Starbucks released a statement to Eater saying they fully believed the lawsuit was "without merit. We are proud to serve our customers high-quality, handcrafted and customized beverages, and we inform customers of the likelihood of variations."

In the end, CNBC reported that Starbucks had been granted dismissal of the lawsuit. A U.S. District Judge said there was a lack of evidence that the company was underfilling lattes, and rejected the idea that milk foam should not count towards the correct volume, saying that most customers expect foam to take up room and that it was necessary in order to make a latte.

During the holiday season, Starbucks is known for two things: extra sugary seasonal drinks, and cups that celebrate the Christmas spirit. But in 2015, the company decided to take a more non-denominational stance with their cups. Instead of doing a Christmas-themed design, they debuted simple red cups. In a statement about the cups, the vice president of the company, Jeffrey Fields, said, "In the past, we have told stories with our holiday cups designs. This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories." 

Some customers, however, were not pleased. Joshua Feuerstein shared a video on his Facebook page where he said "political correct-ness" had prompted Starbucks to "take Christ and Christmas off their cups." He started a "movement" to go into Starbucks and say your name is "Merry Christmas," so that employees were forced to write that on the cups. The video went viral, and Feuerstein told CNN, "I think Starbucks has gotten the message that the Christian majority in this country has awakened and are demanding that our voice be heard." Much social media backlash ensued, with many backing Feuerstein, and many defending Starbucks. 

Even then-presidential candidate Donald Trump weighed in on the issue, saying "I have one of the most successful Starbucks, in Trump Tower. Maybe we should boycott Starbucks? I don't know. Seriously, I don't care... If I become president, we're all going to be saying Merry Christmas again, that I can tell you."

The holiday cup controversy didn't stop in 2016. The following year, a more festive, holiday-inspired design still incited backlash after Buzzfeed News wrote an article about how the design was "totally gay." The outlet reported that many social media users felt that the design, which featured two hands being held, was an image of two same-sex hands, with most posters agreeing that they were two women. Starbucks did not confirm or deny that the hand-holders were of the same sex, but released a statement saying, "Each year during the holidays we aim to bring our customers an experience that inspires the spirit of the season, and we will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world."

The New York Times reported that many customers were furious over the fact that the hand holding might be between a gay or lesbian couple. Conservative site The Blaze wrote a blog post about how the company was being celebrated for pushing a "gay agenda." Overall, it was just another holiday cup controversy.

If there's one sugary sweet latte Starbucks is most known for, it's the seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte that rolls around every year. At first, it seemed that the famed PSL could do no wrong: it was a fall favorite with a cult-like following. But in 2015, controversial food blogger Vani Hari, also known as Food Babe, wrote a post revealing there was no actual pumpkin in the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Hari listed many of the other ingredients in the drink, tearing them apart for being unhealthy. 

The post went viral, even prompting a response from Starbucks. According to Fortune, director of espresso Americas for Starbucks Peter Dukes wrote a blog post saying, "After hearing from customers and partners about ingredients, we took another look at this beverage and why we created it so many years ago." He added that there would be some changes, including the addition of real pumpkin, and the removal of caramel coloring. 

In 2015, Starbucks went through one of their most epic fails ever: the Race Together campaign. That year, Starbucks launched a week-long campaign called "Race Together" in an effort to get their employees and customers to talk about race. In a statement, Schultz asked partners to write "#RaceTogether" on cups to start a conversation, saying, "we at Starbucks should be willing to talk about these issues in America. Not to point fingers or to place blame, and not because we have answers, but because staying silent is not who we are." A USA Today supplement included a variety of "conversation starters." 

Starbucks may have meant well, but the Race Together campaign definitely did not go as planned.

According to Fast Company, Race Together got 2.5 billion social media impressions in less than 48 hours, mainly of full of backlash against the campaign, which was called superficial, tone-deaf and insensitive, among other things. Business Insider would later call it Starbucks' "most embarrassing moment in history." 

Schultz defended the campaign to employees, saying, "While there has been criticism of the initiative — and I know this hasn't been easy for any of you — let me assure you that we didn't expect universal praise." He added, "We leaned in because we believed that starting this dialogue is what matters most. We are learning a lot. And will always aim high in our efforts to make a difference on the issues that matter most."

Probably the biggest Starbucks scandal ever happened in 2018: Two black men were sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks when they were arrested for not making a purchase. The manager of the store called the police and said that two men were sitting in the store when they hadn't bought anything and they refused to leave. The eight-minute video clip on YouTube that quickly went viral shows the police officers standing around the two black men, who were calmly answering questions, telling officers they were meeting someone there. After a few moments, the white man who was supposed to meet them arrived, argued with the officers and said they were acting discriminatory, and then the officers arrested the two black men on suspicion of trespassing.

The arrests caused immediate backlash and cries of racism, along with boycotts and protests against the coffee chain. It prompted a public apology from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who said in an interview on CBS News, "I'm embarrassed, ashamed. I think what occurred was reprehensible at every single level." Starbucks released an official statement apologizing to the two men who had been arrested, and saying, "Starbucks stands firmly against discrimination or racial profiling." 

In 2018, Starbucks joined the overall conversation about finding ways to be more environmentally conscious when they announced that they would be getting rid of plastic straws. Instead of straws, the company said they would begin using "strawless" plastic lids. In a statement, the company wrote, "Amid ongoing company conversations about reducing waste and safeguarding the environment, Starbucks is announcing today that it will phase out plastic straws from its more than 28,000 stores worldwide by 2020, a decision that will eliminate more than 1 billion straws a year." 

Many customers applauded the company's efforts to try to make a difference in the amount of plastic used, but not everyone was thrilled with the decision, especially the disabled. Katherine Carroll, policy analyst at the Rochester, New York-based Center for Disability Rights, told TIME, "Plastic straws are an accessible way for people with certain disabilities to consume food and drinks, and it seems the blanket bans are not taking into account that they need straws and also that plastic straw replacements are not accessible to people." 

"It's good that they are reacting to customer concerns, but a company as big as Starbucks should pay attention to disabled customers' needs and produce assessable straws," added disabled rights advocate Jamie Szymkowiak.