Starbucks India's New Transgender Acceptance Ad Sparks Controversy on Social Media

Starbucks just released a new commercial on May 10, they unveiled a fresh commercial highlighting transgender rights. That aims to increase tolerance and acceptance of transgender people. The advertisement depicts the reunion of a transgender woman with her parents after a protracted period of estrangement. While the campaign has received a lot of attention, some social media users have expressed their opposition to how different identities are portrayed in advertisements.

The opening scene of the advertising shows a couple anxiously waiting for their child, Arpit, who has transitioned to identify as female and changed their name to Arpita, at a coffee shop. When their child makes a decision, the father seems concerned and anxious, and the mother soothes him by saying, “Please don’t get angry this time, listen.” But it appears that over time, the father accepted the change and even made a gesture to show it by purchasing coffee for the family of 'Arpita' .

In just 48 hours, Starbucks’ marketing campaign went viral, generating over 2.5 million tweet views and 530k video views. People are commenting on Twitter, “Stop advising your customers… you are just selling coffee”, “Fail to understand the need for a multinational to get into sensitive topics in a country of hypersensitive sentimental people. Huge dent in the brand!!” and so on. On May 12, the hashtag “Boycott Starbucks” also started to gain traction in India. take a look

Your name defines who you are - whether it's Arpit or Arpita. At Starbucks, we love and accept you for who you are. Because being yourself means everything to us. #ItStartsWithYourName.