People Are Buying Starbucks Under The Name 'Trump' As A Protest

The holiday season has seen a new and perhaps ill-considered holiday tradition: People getting angry at a giant corporation over its cups. And, apparently, people have decided to follow in the footsteps of Scott Baio and start telling their barista their name is Trump to make them shout the name out loud. Get it? HIL-AR-IOUS!

Operation #TrumpCup

1) Go to Starbucks & tell them your name is Trump

2) If they refuse take video

Pls share & spread the word pic.twitter.com/huPj4g6cqY

— Baked Alaska (@bakedalaska) November 18, 2016

Needless to say, people aren’t happy! Let’s go visit the #TrumpCup Twitter hashtag, which is sure to be full of compassion and positivity and —

https://twitter.com/JoshNoneYaBiz/status/799600555228176385

If we want Trump written on our cups don't call the cops! Feel free to boycott Starbucks after this. Even Kanye wants to #MAGA!#TrumpCup pic.twitter.com/YyFv96dhz0

— Irma (@irmahinojosa_) November 18, 2016

Things are escalating quickly:

Starbucks employee refuses to write Trump on this mans cup and even calls the police. #TrumpCup pic.twitter.com/2VnSiyjyzs

— John doe (@juhhhjgghk) November 18, 2016

Debate is firing:

https://twitter.com/KaylinWinters2/status/799717626020708352

https://twitter.com/womanontheleft/status/799601238283317250

Some don’t even have to ask:

My baristas in Virginia Beach love me. I don't even ask them to write Trump, & they do it. #TrumpCup pic.twitter.com/J2Owg8FTCD

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) November 18, 2016

Fake news reporting ! This is not a "protest", it's a statement! Obviously it's working!! #TrumpCup https://t.co/VybEXcc57t

— Baked Alaska (@bakedalaska) November 18, 2016

Some are just confused at what this protest is hoping to achieve:

https://twitter.com/TheAuracl3/status/799714155603202048

https://twitter.com/KaylinWinters2/status/799715552650399744

The question of what this is supposed to achieve is a fair one. If you break this down, a person buying at Starbucks is essentially asking somebody who likely doesn’t make quite as much money as they do to call out a president elect. Seems weird.

They cry over #TrumpCup while we cry over racism, sexism, and bigotry. Must be nice to cry over something so meaningless. #WhitePrivilege

— Jenn Earl Love (@ChicagouaPirate) November 18, 2016

It’s also just kind of bossy and d*ckish. Also, who has time to dream up these protests?

Imagine being a grown ass man whose biggest worry in life is the made-up name they're writing on your $5 Starbucks beverage. #TrumpCup https://t.co/i1Id7Ej41p

— Derek Bolen (Real) (@hurrrdurrr) November 18, 2016

One common refrain in the food industry is that the title is server, not servant, and this more or less shoves the actual job of protesting onto the server. What does it say about a “protest” that you have to make it a part of someone else’s job? And what does it say about a politician that his supporters have to ask someone else to speak his name, even in a neutral context?

https://twitter.com/AprilDelRario/status/799693323476738048

A protest, or a statement to go along with one of those tweets, is only as clear as the consideration put into it for the audience witnessing it. Something, perhaps, for Starbucks customers to consider as they wait in line. Of course there’s always a potential counter protest: