The Wars in the Middle East and Starbucks

I received this last night in my mail box from an ex-Colleague of mine in the Military. I have never been to Starbucks and probably never will, but this just strengthened my resolve:

We don't have to patronise this firm - the choice is yours !!





Recently, British Royal Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees, and to request that they send some of it to the troops there.

Starbucks replied, telling the Royal Marines thank you for their support of their business, but that Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee.

So as not to offend Starbucks, maybe we should support them by NOT buying any of their products!

I feel we should get this out in the open. I know this war might not be very popular with some folks, but that doesn't mean we don't support the boys on the ground, fighting street-to-street and, house-to-house.

If you feel the same as I do then please pass this along.

Thanks very much for your support. I know you'll all be there again to support us when we deploy once more.

Sgt. Howard Wright,
1 Platoon, Recon Company, Royal Marines



PLEASE BE KIND ENOUGH AND DON'T DELETE THIS... BUT PLEASE PASS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR E- MAIL LIST, IN MEMORY OF ALL THE TROOPS WHO HAVE BEEN WOUNDED, LOST LIMBS AND EVEN DIED, SO THAT WE MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE !

Also, you may not hnow this but please don't forget that when the Twin Trade Towers were hit, the fire fighters and rescue workers went to Starbucks because it was close by for water for the survivors and workers, and Starbucks CHARGED THEM!!!

AN ADDED NOTE TO THIS: STARBUCKS HAD STORES ON SEVERAL MILITARY BASES IN THE UNITED STATES. THEY ARE NOW BEING REMOVED BECAUSE OF THIS.

There are 227 Starbucks stores across the UK, and there's no doubt that our soldiers would get the same response from this company, so let us do our bit and boycott Starbucks to show them how despicable their actions are .............................

We shall leave it up to you

reply to post by TheLoneArcher


Without a screenshot to the original email or maybe a picture of this marine holding this letter I'm afraid this just looks like pointless dribble against a perceived liberal corporation.

What I can tell you, and will provide a picture sometime, is the Starbucks I visit almost everyday has a jar that says help support our EMT, police officers, and troops. Because they all get free coffee there.

Response from Starbux:

Hello _____

Please note that this is addressed in our newsroom - It is an old rumor concerning Starbucks' lack of support for the military and our troops.

You can read more here - news.starbucks.com...
...
If you have any further concerns, please reach out to us at 1800-235-2883.

Thanks,

Jeff
customer relations
Starbucks Coffee Company

I believe that the troops in the Middle East should adopt the position of Starbucks and then when you get pulled out go to the nearest Starbucks and thank them for inspiring you to see beyond the cross-hairs of the gun and instead fight, aka advertise, for Starbucks coffee, as they did more good for you than your government did.

This like so many emails before is highly possible to be a hoax. There are always many similar emails where figures like the military, government and what not are portrayed as trying to ban something. Go to snopes and check what's new. You'll see many similar chain emails that are hoaxes.

reply to post by TheLoneArcher


Does this entry look familiar to the post you posted?
Snopes
I see the similarities.

reply to post by Romantic_Rebel


Well spotted there my friend. To be honest, with so many hoaxes floating around................
Even after a third read of it, it is starting to look suspect.
I did some checking and currently, there is no Sgt Howard in that outfit.
However, the Green Howards is or was a Regiment.

I think you may have a point on this. I am going to contact Starbucks personally and post their reply on here as soon as I get one.

Thank you

reply to post by LadySkadi


Thank you for that link.

Star for you.

On the other hand, thanks to our resident LadySkadi, here is the Starbucks response in full:

Starbucks Support of the Troops/Military [Updated September 2010]

January 11, 2005 (updated September 2010)

On behalf of Starbucks more than 160,000 dedicated partners (employees), we want to set the record straight on an old rumor concerning Starbucks lack of support for the military and our troops. This rumor, dating back to 2004, claims a lack of Starbucks support for the U.S. Marines, and has evolved to include a lack of support for the British Royal Marines. In both instances, the rumor is not, and has never been, true.

When Starbucks learned of the original email, we immediately contacted the author, a Marine Sergeant, who subsequently sent an e-mail to his original distribution list correcting the mistake. Unfortunately, rumors have a way of continuing even after the truth has been revealed.

At Starbucks, we respect the efforts of the men and women who serve their country in the military – including our fellow partners who serve during this time of war. In fact, Starbucks has partnered with the American Red Cross and the United Service Organizations (USO) to provide coffee to relief efforts during times of conflict, donating more than 141,000 lbs of coffee. In 2009 alone, Starbucks provided over 71,000 lbs of coffee to the USO for distribution to troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. Additionally, troops all over the world are enjoying Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew in care packages they receive not only from Starbucks, but from their family and friends as well. Through August of 2010, Starbucks has provided 770,000 3-packs of Starbucks VIA® to the USO for their care package program.

Confirmation that this rumor is a blatant untruth can be found online at snopes.com, boycottwatch.org, truthorfiction.com and starbucks.com. Below you will find the text from the Marine Sergeant correcting his mistake.

“Dear Readers,

Almost 5 months ago I sent an e-mail to you my faithful friends. I did a wrong thing that needs to be cleared up. I heard by word of mouth about how Starbucks said they didn’t support the war and all. I was having enough of that kind of talk and didn’t do my research properly like I should have. This is not true. Starbucks supports men and women in uniform. They have personally contacted me and I have been sent many copies of their company’s policy on this issue. So I apologize for this quick and wrong letter that I sent out to you.

Now I ask that you all pass this email around to everyone you passed the last one to.

Thank you very much for understanding about this.

Howard C. Wright
Sgt USMC
1st Force Rcon Co
1st Plt PLT RTO

Dated: August 17, 2004”


We have worked hard to put this rumor to rest, so that it no longer distracts from the many outstanding demonstrations our partners have made – on their own and together – to support the troops.

A lie travels twice around the world before the truth gets it's pants on.