Starbucks halts US 'Race Together' campaign

Washington

STARBUCKS has halted its campaign to mix discussions of racism with its coffee after the initiative met with scepticism and sarcastic put-downs.

In an open letter saying the "Race Together" campaign was ended on Sunday, CEO Howard Schultz summed up the effort as "always just the catalyst for a much broader and longer-term conversation". Mr Schultz last week had baristas serve coffee in cups bearing "Race Together" slogan to open the discussions, saying the United States needs a "new level of sensitivity, understanding around these issues". Instead, the company's senior vice-president of global communications Corey duBrowa said that he was inundated with such a "cascade of negativity" that he temporarily shut down his Twitter account last week.