A new Starbucks U.K. campaign seeks to promote acceptance of sex change in young teens by encouraging them to give baristas their “new” name when they purchase coffee so it can be “called out” in the store.
The company touts its campaign, titled #whatsyourname, is the winner of the Channel 4 Diversity Award 2019.
With its claim that Starbucks has been a “values-led company,” the coffee brand says its new campaign urges young teens to try out a new name in public.
The ad features a young girl named Jemma who is looking for an opportunity to use her “new” chosen name of “James.”
“Taking a customer’s name, writing it on a cup and calling it out is a symbol of our warm welcome,” the coffee chain says, adding the campaign “celebrates this signature act and the significance it can have for some transgender and gender diverse people as they use their new name in public.”
Starbucks says its new campaign was created with ad company Iris Worldwide and “inspired by real life experiences of people who were transitioning.”
“We discovered that they found Starbucks stores to be a safe space, where their new name was accepted, and they could be recognised as who they are,” the company states, adding it hopes the campaign will “address the transgender community’s lack of representation in UK advertising.”
Metro.News said the new Starbucks transgender ad “gets latte love.”
“Many trans and non-binary Twitter users said the #WhatsYourName campaign brought back memories of the first time they too heard their chosen name in Starbucks,” Metro observed.
In addition to the ad campaign, Starbucks states it is partnering with Mermaids, a U.K. organization that seeks to support transgender individuals, with the goal of raising at least £100,000 for its “helpline.”
Starbucks says Mermaids “has seen over a 600 percent increase in demand for its helpline service in the past five years.”
The #whatsyourname campaign also consists of “Moving Portraits,” videos in which transgender individuals share stories of how they chose their new names.