PETA: If Starbucks Doesn't Offer Plant-Based Milk for Free, We'll Glue Ourselves to the Counter!

Recently, two members of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in the United States staged a "self-satisfying" protest at a Starbucks store over additional charges for plant-based milk, sparking heated online discussions.

On April 21st, PETA posted several tweets on their official account about a protest action by two of their members at a Starbucks store. The reason for this protest was their dissatisfaction with the company charging an additional 70-80 cents for all plant-based milks (including oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, etc.).

In several tweets, PETA tagged Howard Schultz, stating that they (the protesters) weren't going anywhere! They would remain connected to your (Starbucks) counter! If you truly care about the environment, stick to your (environmental) values and eliminate the extra charges for plant-based milk. Additionally, when former Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson retired last month, Starbucks paid him a $60 million bonus - enough to cover the extra charges for 85,714,285 cups of plant-based milk, proving that Starbucks has sufficient funds not to charge these additional fees!

From the photos attached to the tweets, two protesters can be seen wearing black clothes with "NOT YOUR MUM NOT YOUR MILK" and "End the extra charge for vegan milk" written on them. One glued their hand to the glass food cabinet, while another sat at the packaging area and glued their hand to the counter...

Environmental Concerns and PETA's Position

The reason PETA so strongly opposes Starbucks' additional charges for plant-based milk is their belief that milk production contributes to global climate change, and theoretically, extra charges should be applied to dairy milk instead. This is because cattle farming pollutes the environment, cows' breathing increases carbon dioxide emissions, raising cattle requires more water, wastes water resources, and creates other environmental pollution problems.

But plant-based milk is different. Plant cultivation is much more environmentally friendly than raising cattle. Growing plants not only reduces environmental pollution but also decreases water usage and so on... Furthermore, it was you (Starbucks) who initially promoted the use of plant-based milk in coffee shops, and now charging for it is outrageous? This must be protested!

Starbucks' Perspective on Plant-Based Milk

Indeed, Starbucks was among the first to offer plant-based milk options in coffee shops. However, Starbucks provides plant-based milk to accommodate consumers with lactose intolerance who still want to drink milk-added coffee, not for environmental reasons. The later introduction of almond milk and coconut milk was also to provide consumers with more flavor choices. The promotion of oat milk was aimed at promoting healthy eating. From beginning to end, Starbucks never used plant-based milk for environmental reasons...

The reason PETA protested at American Starbucks this time is that they know UK Starbucks eliminated the additional charges for plant-based milk this January, so they believe American Starbucks should do the same. In reality, UK Starbucks' elimination of plant-based milk extra charges was a regional policy, so not all regions need to follow suit in removing these additional charges.

Public Reaction and Outcome

Perhaps PETA believed that after posting, they would receive attention and support from netizens. While they certainly got plenty of attention, it wasn't supportive - instead, comment sections were filled with: ????????????? Yes, this action left both dairy milk drinkers and plant-based milk drinkers scratching their heads in confusion.

Most netizens expressed that they didn't understand, especially why protest Starbucks' charges for plant-based milk by gluing their hands to their counters??? Some netizens stated that charging extra for plant-based milk is reasonable because the costs themselves are higher than dairy milk, and providing plant-based milk is simply giving consumers another choice, not obligating them to pay these additional fees. Other netizens commented, "Don't save them, just let them stay glued there for a day..."

So what happened to these two protesters in the end? Of course, they were taken away by police and will face charges of theft and property damage. Afterwards, a Starbucks spokesperson stated that due to fluctuations in plant-based milk market prices, they have no plans to change their decision to charge extra for plant-based milk at this time.

Besides this incident, in mid-March, PETA had already protested once by wearing cow pajamas and lying at the entrance of Starbucks, creating quite a disturbing scene... They also sent tweets tagging Starbucks stating, "A cow died at your store entrance!"

PETA's series of actions has made netizens wonder if they hope that if Starbucks eliminates the extra charges for plant-based milk this time, other coffee shops will follow suit, allowing them to save money when drinking coffee...

Image source: Internet

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