Tweet
STARBUCKS ENRAGES U.S. ARMENIAN COMMUNITY WITH PR MISFIRE
Social media users claim to have seen the poster depicting women
dressed in traditional Armenian garb under the crescent and star of
the Turkish flag in several Starbucks locations in Los Angeles County,
which is home to a large number of people with full or partial Armenian
ancestry. (file photo)
By Carl Schreck
February 19, 2015
WASHINGTON -- An attempt by U.S. coffee giant Starbucks to appeal
to Los Angeles' sizable Armenian population has backfired after its
coffee shops displayed posters depicting women dressed in traditional
Armenian garb under the crescent and star of the Turkish flag.
The posters were spotted this week in Los Angeles-area Starbucks
locations, infuriating activists and social media users who called the
image offensive in light of what Armenians refer to as the "genocide"
of their people by Turkish Ottoman forces in the early 20th century.
"Why is Starbucks selling coffee using an image of women, dressed
in traditional Armenian costumes, celebrating a Turkish state that
systematically victimized Armenian women during the Armenian Genocide,
and that still denies this crime against all humanity?" the Armenian
National Committee Of America (ANCA) wrote in a February 18 post on
its Facebook page.
Profile ANCA Community Organization · 59,582 Likes · Yesterday at
11:59am ·
â~@ª#â~@~NSTARBUCKSâ~@¬ APOLOGIZES; PULLS OFFENSIVE POSTERS: In
response to an online onslaught of concern regarding its posters
depicting women in Armenian dance costumes with under Turkish Crescent
and Stars, #Starbucks has issued an apology and is removing the
offensive ads. In a statement issued to Asbarez News, and posted
to the ANCA Facebook Page, #Starbucks officials noted: "Thank you
to all who raised this concern to us today. Serving as a place for
the community to connect is core to our business and we strive to be
locally relevant in all of our stores. We missed the mark here and
we apologize for upsetting our customers and the community.
We have removed this art in our Mulholland & Calabasas store in
Woodland Hills and are working to make this right."
Is the offensive poster in your local Starbucks? Call Starbucks
Customer Service 800.792.7282 to advise them - and post the location
to the ANCA Facebook Page.
Social media users claimed to have seen the poster in several Starbucks
locations in Los Angeles County, which is home to 446,000 people with
full or partial Armenian ancestry, according to 2007 U.S.
Census Bureau datacited by California-based scholar Shushan Karapetian.
As outrage swelled online and Starbucks customer service
representatives fielded angry calls, the company posted an apology
on the ANCA's Facebook page on February 18, promising to remove the
offending photographs.
"Serving as a place for the community to connect is core to our
business and we strive to be locally relevant in all of our stores,"
a Starbucks representative wrote in the post. "We missed the mark
here and we apologize for upsetting our customers and the community."
The representative added that the artwork would be removed from a
store in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills and that
Starbucks is "working to make this right."
It was not immediately clear exactly how many shops displayed the
photograph.
A Starbucks spokesperson told RFE/RL in a February 19 email that the
company is "quickly looking into this to ensure this image is not in
any other Starbucks locations."
'Flood Of Concern'
ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian said the group became aware of
the posters from social media users in California early in the morning
on February 18 and that his group believes they were displayed in at
least "two or three locations in Southern California."
"It became very clear very quickly that this was a very serious
issue for the entire community, because we started getting a flood
of concern," Hamparian told RFE/RL, adding that Starbucks responded
"very appropriately."
The photograph, in which one of the women dressed in Armenian garb
is holding a paper Starbucks cup while red balloons embossed with the
Turkish star and crescent float overhead, appears to have originated
with California-based designer Tim Rose.
Rose, who has worked on campaigns for Starbucks and other
multinationals, including Coca-Cola and Nike, featured the photograph
on his website as recently as January 28, according to a cached
version of the site.
The image has since been removed from the website. Rose did not
respond to an emailed request for comment.
Preparations are underway worldwide for this year's commemoration of
the 100th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman
rule. The tragedy has been recognized as "genocide" by more than 20
countries, including Canada, Russia, and France.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on February 16 recalled from
parliament protocols on normalizing ties and establishing diplomatic
relations with Turkey, accusing Ankara of lacking "political will"
and thwarting the process with "preconditions."
With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian Service
http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-starbucks-genocide-pr-misfire/26858687.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKYtNFW8NkU&feature=player_detailpage#t=54 0
Attachments area Preview YouTube video 19.02.15 / Ô±Õ¼Õ¡Õ"Õ"Õ¶
Õ¬O~@Õ¡Õ¿Õ¾Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ 17:00 19.02.15 / Ô±Õ¼Õ¡Õ"Õ"Õ¶ Õ¬O~@Õ¡Õ¿Õ¾Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶
17:00
Social media users claim to have seen the poster depicting women
dressed in traditional Armenian garb under the crescent and star of
the Turkish flag in several Starbucks locations in Los Angeles County,
which is home to a large number of people with full or partial Armenian
ancestry. (file photo)
By Carl Schreck
February 19, 2015
WASHINGTON -- An attempt by U.S. coffee giant Starbucks to appeal
to Los Angeles' sizable Armenian population has backfired after its
coffee shops displayed posters depicting women dressed in traditional
Armenian garb under the crescent and star of the Turkish flag.
The posters were spotted this week in Los Angeles-area Starbucks
locations, infuriating activists and social media users who called the
image offensive in light of what Armenians refer to as the "genocide"
of their people by Turkish Ottoman forces in the early 20th century.
"Why is Starbucks selling coffee using an image of women, dressed
in traditional Armenian costumes, celebrating a Turkish state that
systematically victimized Armenian women during the Armenian Genocide,
and that still denies this crime against all humanity?" the Armenian
National Committee Of America (ANCA) wrote in a February 18 post on
its Facebook page.
Profile ANCA Community Organization · 59,582 Likes · Yesterday at
11:59am ·
â~@ª#â~@~NSTARBUCKSâ~@¬ APOLOGIZES; PULLS OFFENSIVE POSTERS: In
response to an online onslaught of concern regarding its posters
depicting women in Armenian dance costumes with under Turkish Crescent
and Stars, #Starbucks has issued an apology and is removing the
offensive ads. In a statement issued to Asbarez News, and posted
to the ANCA Facebook Page, #Starbucks officials noted: "Thank you
to all who raised this concern to us today. Serving as a place for
the community to connect is core to our business and we strive to be
locally relevant in all of our stores. We missed the mark here and
we apologize for upsetting our customers and the community.
We have removed this art in our Mulholland & Calabasas store in
Woodland Hills and are working to make this right."
Is the offensive poster in your local Starbucks? Call Starbucks
Customer Service 800.792.7282 to advise them - and post the location
to the ANCA Facebook Page.
Social media users claimed to have seen the poster in several Starbucks
locations in Los Angeles County, which is home to 446,000 people with
full or partial Armenian ancestry, according to 2007 U.S.
Census Bureau datacited by California-based scholar Shushan Karapetian.
As outrage swelled online and Starbucks customer service
representatives fielded angry calls, the company posted an apology
on the ANCA's Facebook page on February 18, promising to remove the
offending photographs.
"Serving as a place for the community to connect is core to our
business and we strive to be locally relevant in all of our stores,"
a Starbucks representative wrote in the post. "We missed the mark
here and we apologize for upsetting our customers and the community."
The representative added that the artwork would be removed from a
store in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills and that
Starbucks is "working to make this right."
It was not immediately clear exactly how many shops displayed the
photograph.
A Starbucks spokesperson told RFE/RL in a February 19 email that the
company is "quickly looking into this to ensure this image is not in
any other Starbucks locations."
'Flood Of Concern'
ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian said the group became aware of
the posters from social media users in California early in the morning
on February 18 and that his group believes they were displayed in at
least "two or three locations in Southern California."
"It became very clear very quickly that this was a very serious
issue for the entire community, because we started getting a flood
of concern," Hamparian told RFE/RL, adding that Starbucks responded
"very appropriately."
The photograph, in which one of the women dressed in Armenian garb
is holding a paper Starbucks cup while red balloons embossed with the
Turkish star and crescent float overhead, appears to have originated
with California-based designer Tim Rose.
Rose, who has worked on campaigns for Starbucks and other
multinationals, including Coca-Cola and Nike, featured the photograph
on his website as recently as January 28, according to a cached
version of the site.
The image has since been removed from the website. Rose did not
respond to an emailed request for comment.
Preparations are underway worldwide for this year's commemoration of
the 100th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman
rule. The tragedy has been recognized as "genocide" by more than 20
countries, including Canada, Russia, and France.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on February 16 recalled from
parliament protocols on normalizing ties and establishing diplomatic
relations with Turkey, accusing Ankara of lacking "political will"
and thwarting the process with "preconditions."
With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian Service
http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-starbucks-genocide-pr-misfire/26858687.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKYtNFW8NkU&feature=player_detailpage#t=54 0
Attachments area Preview YouTube video 19.02.15 / Ô±Õ¼Õ¡Õ"Õ"Õ¶
Õ¬O~@Õ¡Õ¿Õ¾Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ 17:00 19.02.15 / Ô±Õ¼Õ¡Õ"Õ"Õ¶ Õ¬O~@Õ¡Õ¿Õ¾Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶
17:00