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Tamil Guardian, SriLanka
Feb 21 2015
Starbucks apologises for 'offensive' Armenian posters
Tamil Guardian 21 February 2015
The global coffee chain Starbucks has apologised to the Armenian
community and withdrawn a poster campaign that showed women dressed in
traditional Armenian clothing, drinking coffee under the crescent and
star of the Turkish flag.
The Armenian National Committee Of America (ANCA) criticised the
posters which were displayed ahead of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide, where 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
forces. Turkey has refused to recognise the killings as genocide.
"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?" asked ANCA on
Facebook.
"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,"
said Starbucks in an email to Asbarez. "We missed the mark here and we
apologize for upsetting our customers and the community."
Starbucks subsequently apologised for the posters and withdrew them
from their stores, adding they would ensure the image would not appear
elsewhere.
The photographer responsible for the image, Timothy Rose, also issued
his "deepest apologies", saying "once it came to my attention that
this was rightfully offensive to the Armenian community, I took the
image down".
"I am in full support of their plight and would never have knowingly
supported any action that would hurt either them or cause unnecessary
pain."
http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=13867
From: Baghdasarian
Feb 21 2015
Starbucks apologises for 'offensive' Armenian posters
Tamil Guardian 21 February 2015
The global coffee chain Starbucks has apologised to the Armenian
community and withdrawn a poster campaign that showed women dressed in
traditional Armenian clothing, drinking coffee under the crescent and
star of the Turkish flag.
The Armenian National Committee Of America (ANCA) criticised the
posters which were displayed ahead of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide, where 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
forces. Turkey has refused to recognise the killings as genocide.
"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?" asked ANCA on
Facebook.
"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,"
said Starbucks in an email to Asbarez. "We missed the mark here and we
apologize for upsetting our customers and the community."
Starbucks subsequently apologised for the posters and withdrew them
from their stores, adding they would ensure the image would not appear
elsewhere.
The photographer responsible for the image, Timothy Rose, also issued
his "deepest apologies", saying "once it came to my attention that
this was rightfully offensive to the Armenian community, I took the
image down".
"I am in full support of their plight and would never have knowingly
supported any action that would hurt either them or cause unnecessary
pain."
http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=13867
From: Baghdasarian