Yesterday during my weekly hour of “me time,” when I have my cello lesson and then grab a cappuccino at the Starbucks down the street, a rack of books standing by the register caught my eye. They were “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” by Ishmael Beah. Along with the books were a stack of bookmark-sized folded “Reading Guides” with information and discussion questions about the book. The book is about the experiences of a former boy soldier in Sierra Leone, Africa; he is now in his mid-twenties, and lucky enough to have been swept into the Starbucks marketing machine.
Ishmael will be speaking and signing books at Starbucks locations in 11 major cities (though not Los Angeles for some reason). Starbucks is also organizing discussions about the book at various locations on March 7th, along with an ongoing online discussion and live chat with the author on March 13th. The company will donate $2 from the sale of each book to support UNICEF programs for children affected by armed conflict, with a minimum contribution of $100,000.
To be honest, I have not noticed whether Starbucks has done this extensive a promotion of a book before, though I know they have branched into music and movie promotions. With these activities plus their sales of Ethos Water that contribute toward “helping children around the world get clean water,” Starbucks is trying to position itself as the coffee seller with a social conscience, rather than the megaconglomerate that’s taking over the world, street corner by street corner. Seems to be working – Starbucks was number nine on the list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens developed by Business Ethics magazine and number five on Fortune’s list of America’s Most Admired Companies.
Love them or hate them, Starbucks has made itself into a force that has the power to impact the public conversation and influence its customers’ thinking on social issues.
Photo Credit: Spencer Batchelder
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
I’m a Starbucks lover. I use my Starbucks branded burr grinder and barista espresso machine to make my wife a latte every morning.
But I can’t in good conscience give Starbucks high marks until they buy and serve more fair trade coffee. That’s the real issue they can and should be making a difference on.
Starbucks can support any initiative they want. It just seems the fair trade movement is the logical place for them. However, I suspect Ishmael will sell more lattes.
So, is it about corporate conscience or savvy marketing of coffee?
P.S. Starbucks claims that they are the largest purchaser of fair trade coffee in the U.S. And they do some other stuff too that I didn’t know about. So they do more than I initially thought. But–I still think more can be done.
Not everyone’s so excited about Starbuck’s flirtation with books. There were grumblings from indie booksellers and other channels given their potential for bigger book things. Otherwise, love the vanilla latte.