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Starbucks Thoughts Stir The Pot


Some customers find contemplative quotes provocative, anti-Christian

Vito Pilieci
The Ottawa Citizen

May 12, 2007

Starbucks says it won't change an advertising campaign that some believe is anti-Christian, despite boycotts across the United States.

The Seattle-based coffee chain has drawn protests because of its "The Way I See It" campaign, which prints comments submitted by customers on its paper cups.

One such thought -- written by London, Ont., native Bill Schell -- calls into question the existence of God.

"Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help?" reads Mr. Schell's "The Way I See It" comment. "As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."

The company numbers each of its comments -- Mr. Schell's is No. 247 -- and releases around 30 new quotes every few months.

Michelle Incanno, a customer who lives in Springboro, Ohio, was shocked when she read the cup.

"As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that," she told the Associated Press earlier this week. "I don't think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee."

Other "The Way I See It" quotes have also been flagged as being anti-Christian.

"There's absolutely no reason to put that on a cup," Ken Peck, who is leading a boycott against Starbucks in Polk County, Florida, told online newspaper World Net Daily yesterday. "Everyone I have showed the cup to has been flabbergasted, whether they have a faith in Christ or not."

Tricia Moriarty, spokeswoman for the Seattle-based Starbucks, said the collection of thoughts and opinions are inspired by "the old coffeehouse tradition of thoughtful discussion" on a variety of issues, including religion.

Starbucks clearly states on its cups that the quotes are the opinions of the authors, and not the company's, adding that other cups have messages that some people have deemed to be pro-God.

"You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose," states No. 92.

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