In October, the workers’ union Starbucks Workers United made a post on social media reading “Solidarity with Palestine!” This post was only online for about 40 minutes before it was deleted; later, the group made another post saying it “[stands] with Palestine.”
In response to these posts, Starbucks launched a lawsuit against SWU, claiming both that the union “angered hundreds of customers and damaged its reputation” and that they were using Starbucks trademarks without permission.
Seeing this, some of those who support Palestine decided to boycott Starbucks. Internet users have documented a few methods for doing this: Some have simply stopped purchasing items from the chain, others have called the company to remove money from their account. Even more are simply going to the store to order free water, saying that the time and resources used to do this create a loss for the company.
Starbucks’ most recent earnings report, which came out in November of last year before the boycott came into effect, says that their global consolidated net revenues are up 11%. That said, “shares of Starbucks Corporation SBUX have declined 10.7% in the past year against the industry’s 7.7% growth,” reads a January 2024 article in Yahoo! Finance.
While industry analysts aren’t sure that the boycott is having a significant impact on Starbucks’ finances, several workers and frequent Starbucks shoppers have pointed out recent trends in the company that may indicate it’s trying to get people back into its stores. One barista said they noticed a significant decline in customers; another customer claimed they’ve been receiving more offers and deals since the boycott.
Given this, it’s no surprise that a recent viral video showing the prevalence of deals for the month of January became another point of discussion in this conversation. In a clip with over 2.5 million views, TikTok user Lauren (@chimmminnie) showed the store’s promotional calendar for the month. Of the 31 days in January, about a third offer some kind of promotion or deal.
“baristas gonna be in the trenches,” the TikToker writes in the caption. “$3 Thursdays??? labor cuts???”
@chimmminnie baristas gonna be in the trenches this 202…….. $3 Thursdays??? labor cuts???😭#starbucks #barista #sbux #sbuxbaristas #2024 #happynewyear #january #bogo #bogostarbucks ♬ original sound – Izabela🇵🇱
While the TikToker did not connect these deals to the boycott, many in commenters drew a line between these new offers and their efforts to protest against the company.
“ever since ppl started boycotting them I’ve noticed I get more notifications and offers…when they rarely did that before,” claimed a user.
“Coming from a barista you’re definitely right,” replied another.
“i work at starbucks cause i have to support myself but keep it up y’all it’s working,” shared a third.
“that boycott really doing something,” added a further TikToker.
Lauren herself wasn’t sure.
“January is usually pretty chill month, definitely manageable compared to the holidays,” she wrote in a TikTok DM exchange with the Daily Dot. “Nothing official has been said regarding it, but since Starbucks lost billions I’d assume the suspicions are correct—but who knows, maybe they’re trying something new for 2024.”
Her own experience in the store regarding the efficacy and roll-out of the boycott has been mixed, she says.
“I’ve noticed with my store it’s gotten a little slower. But it usually always does this time of year. I guess it just depends on your area,” she detailed. “Our customers are amazing as always, but I’ve heard horror stories that other baristas have shared about being yelling at and harassed by customers for only doing their job. I thankfully haven’t experienced that in person yet; online? All of the time though.”
Back in her video’s comments section, some were simply content to enjoy these January deals.
“Yassss! Ty for feeding my addiction,” said a commenter.
“and i’m gonna try to take advantage of these deals!!! Starbucks gets me through 8 hr workdays sometimes!” exclaimed a second.
We’ve reached out to Starbucks via email.
