About every five minutes or so, one of my Republican friends (most of whom support Big Government Conservative Wars but haven't served themselves) forwards me that stupid email lie about how Starbucks hates the troops, doesn't support the war and won't give coffee to troops because they are a bunch of old commie pinko haters.
Bullshit. Stop sending this propaganda around. That's an urban legend originated by an individual who ought to have known better, being an NCO like me:
- http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/starbucks-iraq.htm
- http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_starbucks_marines.htm
- http://www.boycottwatch.org/misc/starbucks2.htm
Starbucks as a corporation does not give coffee to the Marine Corps as they are a government organization. This is not an unusual corporate policy, and if Sgt Wright had investigated the matter as he claims in his initial email, he'd have known that.
Starbucks as a corporation (like most corporations) only donates to non-profits, but their employees are encouraged to donate to the troops themselves. Starbucks passes on all requests for donations from troops on to their employees who often donate their weekly bags of coffee to troops in Iraq. A lot of coffee has been donated to troops in Iraq by Starbucks employees – something Sgt Wright, had he been truthful would have disclosed.
As a fellow Marine Corps Sergeant and Gulf War veteran, I am disgusted and ashamed that Sgt Wright chose to spread this lie far and wide, but did not spend as much time and energy in circulating his retraction. I am further disgusted at Sgt Wright's apparent embrace of socialist self-entitlement as a government employee. Starbucks does not owe Sgt Wright free coffee for putting on a uniform. Starbucks does not owe me free coffee for putting on a uniform.
Sgt Wright has embarrassed the Corps with this b.s. and does not speak for me as a Marine Corps and Gulf War veteran.
Wow, now the left AND the right are irrationally attacking Starbucks.
Kinda makes me want to start buying more of their coffee. They\’ve always seemed like a brilliant, well-managed and ethical company, despite the drivel coming from those who engage in smear campaigns against them.
1/6/2007 1:13:00
I am digging their new Cinnamon Dolce Latte – venti size.
1/6/2007 1:26:00
Starbucks=Yummy! And also apparently fattening. 🙂 The fat natzis want to stop that, too.
Thanks for making the argument here – nice debunk, and I like your additional observations as well. I\’m constantly having to research this kind of thing. I\’ve been trying to convince people to do phrase searches to check the status of claims before contributing to smear, hoax, and whisper campaigns by passing them on, but there is a strange resistance when the message hits their buttons.
I\’ve also noticed a tendency toward lack of accountability, as though they are not responsible for spreading a viral message if they weren\’t the author. It reminds me of the [url=http://www.stanleymilgram.com/]Stanley Milgram experiments[/url] except in this case, there isn\’t even a present source of authority urging them to continue. I wonder if it could be a mild form of mass hysteria, at least in some cases.
When I receive garbage like this, I used to respond to the sender to explain it was a hoax or taken out of context, whichever being the case. I\’ve found that they never share that information with the people they included in their email to me. It is as if they want to believe it and refuse to acknowledge it was wrong, in spite of evidence to the contrary.
Now, I just hit \”reply all\” and send my debunkification (is that a word?!) to everyone that received the message.
1/6/2007 10:33:00
GREAT POST in fact THIS Starbucks MYTH (and others like the Those Who Oppose the War Spit On Me, and Do Not Support the Troops MYTH) have been around since the Vietnam War in the wild imagination of the beseiged right-wing nuts, and unfortunately some of them HAVE served themselves BRO. Mostly in the Vietnam Era National Guard or anywhere OUTSIDE Vietnam. GET THE PICTURE!
Anyway, that is beside the point of your post. THIS MYTH has been around so long on Snopes Urban Legends that it has been DEMOTED from their Top 20 Urban Legends down to \”Those Still Haunting Our Inboxes.\” That said, here is the point I wanted to get across to YOU and ask YOU to do additonal research and follow-up on if you don\’t mind. Take a look at the entire \”SUPPORT OUR TROOPS,\” phenomenon from both sides of the political spectrum to determine this THESIS. Do those who do it from OUTSIDE the military do so really FOR THE TROOPS or to try WIPING AWAY THE GUILT that (1) the nation as a whole DOES NOT support the war? (2) they are really doing these things for themselve? (3) Those who do so out of concern and kindness for our troops are being EXPLOITED and used as a propaganda tool due to their IGNORANCE on how OUR TROOPS are realistically and adequately provided for by our government as in (like) no time in History, including coffee shops in the combat zone (Iraq). Use KNOWLEDGE my friends to DEBATE your ignorant Republican, NEOCON, or whatever NEADERTHAL acquantance comes up with these idiotic stories about companies or people who DO NOT SUPPORT OUR TROOPS BECAUSE THEY DO NOT SUPPORT GEORGE W. BUSH\’S WAR IN IRAQ! It is as SIMPLE as that. Why make life so complicated when this is the documented response: The US military has hunkered down, moving into the isolated compounds and bases that Saddam Hussein\’s security forces used to protect themselves from internal enemies. Thus, US forces are most readily attacked when they leave those bases to go out on patrol or in convoys. ANY IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN VET KNOWS AT LEAST THE LAST SENTANCE TO BE TRUE! By mid-2003 Army and Air Force Exchange Service [AAFES] had established tactical field exchanges in Iraq. The Talil field exchange, which opened April 5 inside a gymnasium on the former Iraqi air base near Nasiriyah, is one of several shops the Army and Air Force Exchange Service has set up recently in Iraq. Others are in Umm Qsar, Baghdad International Airport and Camp Cedar, a convoy pit stop near Talil. More are planned. AAFES shipments from Kuwait are headed to V Corps’ camp in Baghdad and to Balad, a city north of Baghdad. Merchandise slated for the projected military operation in Turkey will move to Mosul for troops in northern Iraq. Troops notice when AAFES opens a field exchange. AAFES is the center of attention. Troops drop what they’re doing. In Iraq, AAFES can’t stock enough portable DVD players, which go for $399. In Baghdad alone, 250 are sold on an average day. Compact discs and magazines are also big sellers. Cans of soda also don’t last long in Baghdad. The military recently approved a local Pepsi distributor in Kuwait to supply AAFES with its products — good news for Mountain Dew fanatics. On May 7, the field exchange at Baghdad International Airport sold 5,400 cases of soft drinks — an average day’s sales for that camp. By mid-May 2003 soldiers saw specialty items exclusive to operations in Iraq, Hatcher said. Commemorative T-shirts, key rings, coins and cups are among the items being flown in. Local vendors will offer regional trinkets and stuffed camels. Despite the brisk sales, AAFES expects to lose money on contingency operations because costs to ship goods to the front lines eats up all the profits. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/iraq-intro.htm IF OUR TROOPS ARE NOT GETTING \”THE COFFEE AND OTHER ITEMS\” THEY NEED IN THE FORWARD AREA IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CONGRESS AND THEIR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF TO ENSURE THEY GET IT – NOT STARBUCKS, ME, YOU OR ANY CORPORATION BE THEY SUPPORT BUSH\’S WAR OR NOT. That is WHY WE must demand ACCOUNTABILITY from Congress as to WHERE DID THE BILLIONS GO? BEFORE throwing good money AFTER bad. Rumors like this one are only intended to DISTRACT folks from the real issue of WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CARE AND FEEDING OF OUR TROOPS WHILE IN COMBAT, AND IT AIN\’T STARBUCKS! Major Bobby Hanafin U.S. Air Force-Retired
2/15/2007 12:12:00 PM
Right before thankgiving, the Starbucks around the corner from my place had coffee thing to send stuff to the troops. Both the employees and the public were donating gobs and gobs of coffee.
does star bucks sell to aafes? Who is the coffee supplier? If starbucks doesn’t sell them coffee, why not? I am sure their coffee is great!
12/22/2007 11:37:00 AM