So apparently Starbucks have ‘partnered’ with mermaids

@traceyracer Flora is manufactured by Unilever, not Whitbread.

Or you might be lucky enough to have a local, independent tea or coffee shop that is run by local business people. My city is thick with them and we never need to use a chain unless we choose to.

I won't drink from Costa either if they are part of Whitbread (Flora etc).

Pret it shall be!

I didn’t buy from pret either - from when they used a loophole so that they didn’t have to put the ingredients on their prepared food and that poor girl died (also the woman who died a few months before that was a suspected allergy attack and they knew about to but still didn’t label their foods (utter contempt for their consumers all just to look ‘home made’).

But Starbucks is on my list now and I have told others about this new thing. Crap coffee anyway.

It's helpful to know that buying cookies from Starbucks will financially support a charity that lobbies for gender non-conforming children who believe themselves to be trans to be given medication such as Lupron that is used for cancer treatments. Use this information wisely, mothers.

Today I walked past Starbucks to go to Pret. And will continue!

Costa are part of Whitbread, who also own pubs and Premier Inn.

They're a UK company and pay tax.

Plus, they do decaff Twinings tea!

Why do I read the starbucks twitter handle as starbucks suks 😂😂💪

Yes, why exactly is a marketing campaign being reported as news?

This has been happening for a while in many areas - I started noticeing as DH started ranting about it and I suddenly noticed how much PR and marketing now gets reported as news.

How about Costa?

Maybe they can just put the puberty blockers straight in the coffee.

And those of us who ask them to hold the Lupron can get put in the same category as the person whose order takes 8 minutes because of all the extras/things they don't want.

UK.

Is this in the U.K. or just America?

Excellent! Maybe they can just put the puberty blockers straight in the coffee.

This is not like me but I had nightmares about this last night. I love a Starbucks, it's a thing I do when I see friends (and yes feel free to tell me I'm morally repugnant cos of the tax issue, I'm not perfect). Now I feel like I've contributed financially to medical experimentation on children. It's like Starbucks had asked if I wanted cream or ice cream with my pie but not told me the pie contains something horrifying. It's not a boycott but I physically couldn't eat or drink anything from there. I have no issue with young people trying out gender bending, so did I at that age (though I never wanted the approval they seem to, let alone corporate approval). People can ask for what name they want on the cups and they always could, it's a free country. But supporting THAT charity and what they are pushing for? The lifetimes on drugs, the lost sensations, the lost opportunities, the uncertainty over whether any of it even works in terms of people being happier after? Has Starbucks even looked at the Detransitioners network to see the risk they are taking with their young customers happiness?

(Licks pencil) - you’d write what now?

12 year old boys don't have their own credit cards and therefore can't buy frilly knickers, so.

Last time I was in an M&S wanting to try something on with my son, I asked where the changing room was (didn't specify) and was apologetically told we'd need to go to the men's (apologetically because it was much further away) so they are insisting on 12 year old boys changing in the men's but not adult males if they say they are women?

Ben Hunte really is a complete prick and a rubbish journalist. The BBC has given up all pretence of impartiality now.

M&S might not be a great alternative for coffee given their position on bra fitting rooms

Promoting Starbucks and Mermaids does not seem to be doing Ben Hunte any harm...

Wow, how completely crass. Can you imagine being part of an organisation where your fellow employees are losing their jobs and crowing about how it means now you have a promotion.

But honestly it says something about the mindset that he bills himself as "youngest, blackest, gayest". In that context it doesn't seem much different than any more conventional claim of superiority based on pedigree.

Pretty appalled by this, honestly.

I’d write to them, but they’ll already have been warned to expect a “backlash” from nasty women who hate trans kids so it’s pointless. They’re hardly short of cash to do due diligence so they’ve clearly decided this is a winning brand partnership.

They need to stay relevant to the youth custom, not lose it to Costa or indies. Cynical.

This. Reporters should be reporting not campaigning. And a promotional campaign isn’t news, it’s advertorial.

He's one of a number of BBC journalists who've been promoted to a relatively senior role despite not having the qualifications for it, and for repeatedly displaying that they don't care about impartiality, balance or objectivity

Yeah, I'm not going to be giving any more money to a company that promotes gay conversion therapy, thanks.

(Sigh. It's an occasional treat rather than a regular thing - I'm not that rich - but I do like their seasonal drinks. Never mind.)

I will be boycotting Starbucks and getting my coffee from the M&S cafe in future.