People are posting photos of themselves drinking coffee from chains like Dunkin' Donuts and Burger King to protest Starbucks after the arrest of 2 black men

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People are posting photos of themselves drinking coffee from chains like Dunkin' Donuts and Burger King to protest Starbucks after the arrest of 2 black men

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Starbucks Boycott

AP Photo/Ron Todt

Protesters gather outside a Starbucks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

  • People are calling for a boycott of Starbucks after two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia location. 
  • Ex-Starbucks customers are posting photos of themselves drinking coffee from Dunkin' Donuts, Panera, and other chains with the #BoycottStarbucks hashtag. 
  • Starbucks has apologized for the incident, but the boycott seems to be just heating up. 

Starbucks customers are posting photos of themselves drinking coffee from Dunkin' Donuts, Panera, and local coffee shops as backlash against the coffee giant builds. 

A video of two black men being arrested while waiting for a friend at a Philadelphia Starbucks last Thursday went viral, sparking backlash. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologized over the weekend - but boycott threats against the chain are still gaining steam. 

People are organizing under the #BoycottStarbucks hashtag to show their new drinks of choice, many from black-owned coffee shops:  

Some rival chains are benefiting from the boycott: 

Ebro Darden, a well-known radio host, posted a meme that reads: "Dunkin' Donuts: The coffee isn't as good, but we don't arrest you for being black." 

One person went to Starbucks - but provided the name "Black Lives Matter" to employees. 

Starbucks has apologized for the incident, with Johnson saying "our practices and training led to a bad outcome - the basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong." 

The coffee chain said that it is working to make institutional changes to address these problems in the long term, with plans to instruct workers to better understand when police assistance is necessary and have managers undergo "unconscious bias" training. Starbucks is holding a company-wide meeting this week to "share our learnings, discuss some immediate next steps and underscore our long-standing commitment to treating one another with respect and dignity."

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