To this day, many Malaysians have been persistent in their boycott of certain global brands and one of those brands is Starbucks. However, unlike other establishments, Starbucks Malaysia did not immediately issue any official statement regarding their stance on what’s been going on in the Middle East until very recently.
Yesterday (28th February), Starbucks Malaysia posted an official statement on all their social media platforms titled “Truth Matters”. Here’s what they said:
As seen in the statement above, although not explicitly, the company addressed allegations made against them regarding funding the Israeli government. “Starbucks Malaysia is wholly owned by a public-listed Malaysian company. We have no political agenda. We only support initiatives aimed at uplifting local communities, demonstrating our commitment to social responsibilities and community development,” they wrote.
The popular coffee chain also added that they have stores all across the Middle East and the North African region. The statement ended with the business saying that they “Stand for humanity and condemn violence, the loss of innocent lives and all the hate”.
Since the comments section has been disabled on all social media platforms, netizens took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the brand. Many called out Starbucks for staying neutral on the ongoing issue and that they should’ve explicitly written the words “Genocide” and “Palestine” in their statement if they were to choose to win back their customers’ trust.
While it was not mentioned in their social posts, the brand clarified on their official website that they do not provide any funds for the Israeli government. “We do not use our profits to fund any Government or military operations anywhere – and never have. Rumours that Starbucks or Howard Schultz provides financial support to the Israeli government and/or the Israeli Army are unequivocally false.”
Despite denying the allegations, Starbucks Malaysia still did not clarify or mention support for the people of Palestine. Will their statement be enough for damage control? Guess only time will tell.
Sources: Instagram, Twitter, StarbucksMY
