Article
E-Racing together: How starbucks reshaped and deflected racial conversations on social media
Public Relations Review
(2019)
Abstract
In March 2015, Starbucks introduced its #RaceTogether campaign to encourage patrons to discuss race and ethnicity in global culture. Public reaction to #RaceTogether was largely critical and resulted in Starbucks' abandoning the campaign within a year. Through an analysis of 5000 #RaceTogether tweets, this study examines how users engaged the campaign and each other. This study draws three conclusions. First, most #RaceTogether posts featured extremist and racist positions. Second, #RaceTogether posts deflected race conversations and critiqued the organizations role in national racial discourses. Finally, posts in the digital space critiqued Starbucks as a location for inter-racial dialogue because of brand perception.
Keywords
- starbucks,
- twitter,
- reputation management,
- race,
- brand,
- social media
Disciplines
Publication Date
Fall September, 2019
Citation Information
Alison Novak and Julia C. Richmond. "E-Racing together: How starbucks reshaped and deflected racial conversations on social media" Public Relations Review Vol. 45 Iss. 3 (2019) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/alison-novak/18/