A trend that kicked off last summer with protestors supergluing themselves to Starbucks venues has taken its next step.
But that next step has landed protestors inside blocks of concrete, with placard-waving protestors closing off the entrance to a Nashville Starbucks by embedding themselves.
In a campaign meant to show how vegan protestors are refusing to budge, the protestors waved signs asking Starbucks to ‘end the vegan upcharge’ on plant-based milks.
Starbucks said: ‘We respect our customers’ rights to respectfully voice their opinions so long as it does not disrupt our store operations.’
The company said customers can add a ‘splash’ of plant-based milks to their drinks for free, but that it charges an additional fee for more than a splash.
The upcharge amounts range from 50-90 cents, depending on the location and type of plant-milk wanted. There is no extra charge for dairy milk.
PETA said it wouldn’t back down from its position, and told Starbucks to stop castigating people who are ‘concerned for cows’, according to the New York Post.
The Nashville protest shut down an entire street at West End Avenue, drawing over a dozen police cars on August 18
In a campaign meant to show how vegan protestors are refusing to budge, the protestors waved signs asking Starbucks to ‘end the vegan upcharge’ on plant-based milks. Starbucks hits customers with extra for more than a ‘splash’ of plant milk, with the upcharge ranging from 50-90 cents, depending on the location and type of plant-milk wanted
The participants were arrested, with one protester was taken to the hospital due to foot pain from the cement
PETA supporters encase feet in cement outside Starbucks
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The protest follows a letter from Sir Paul McCartney, where he urged Starbucks to ‘stop charging for plant-based milk’.
The protestors were apparently emboldened by the Beatle, claiming he had endorsed their tactics.
The Nashville protest shut down an entire street at West End Avenue, drawing over a dozen police cars on August 18.
The participants were arrested, with one protester was taken to the hospital due to foot pain from the cement, according to WSMV4.
It’s a campaign aimed at getting the Seattle-based coffee chain to stop charging extra for plant-based milk.
Daniel Bifano of Michigan was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct when he refused to leave his block of cement.
McCartney called out Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson in an open letter he published with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
‘My friends at PETA are campaigning for this,’ McCartney wrote in the letter. ‘I sincerely hope that for the future of the planet and animal welfare you are able to implement this policy.’
Starbucks stores in the UK, McCartney’s place of birth, do not have a surcharge on milk alternatives, he pointed out.
Sir Paul McCartney is pictured performing at Glastonbury Festival on June 25, 2022. McCartney recently called out Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson in an open letter he published with PETA
The coffee chain scrapped the $0.54 extra charge for drinks made with non-dairy milk in Britain last December.
It went on: ‘Cows used for dairy are forcibly inseminated (raped)—workers insert an arm into the cow’s rectum and a metal rod to deliver semen into her vagina—and their beloved calves are torn away from them so that the milk meant to nourish their babies can be used by humans.’
Starbucks has recently seen several of its workers attempt to unionize.
The company recently asked the National Labor Relations Board to temporarily suspend all union elections at its US stores after accusing the federal agency of inappropriately helping union organizers win votes.
Starbucks employees wait for results of a vote count, on December 9, 2021 in Buffalo. Starbucks recently asked the National Labor Relations Board to temporarily suspend all union elections at its US stores after accusing the federal agency of inappropriately helping union organizers win votes