The global coffee chain Starbucks has apologised to the Armenian community and withdrawn a poster campaign that showed women dressed in traditional Armenian clothing, drinking coffee under the crescent and star of the Turkish flag.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.”
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.
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“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.”