 |
| If readers spot more of these posters, please alert Starbucks customer service at 800.782.7282. |
A Starbucks poster raised more than balloons when it pictured women wearing Armenian taraz, one woman carrying a takeout cup of Starbucks coffee, all of the women looking happily up into a sky full of balloons which sported the Turkish star and crescent. The ad which raised the ire of the Armenian community, has since, Marash Girl is told, been removed, but Marash Girl is dismayed to observe that after 100 years, the public, in the person of a Starbucks public relation firm, does not know the truth about the Armenian Genocide! Can you imagine such a photo of Jewish folks looking happily up at balloons covered with German swastikas?
The faux pas reminded Marash Girl of the day she introduced herself, giving her full name ending in "ian". "What kind of a name is that?" asked the new acquaintance. "Armenian," Marash Girl replied, grinning. "Oh, I know!" said the new acquaintance proudly. "You're Turkish!"
Was this poster hanging at a Starbucks store that you visited or somewhere else?
ReplyDeleteI saw it online on Facebook ("I am a descendant of a survivor of the Armenian Genocide) and then on Asbarez, the California Armenian newspaper. My guess is that it was posted in and about Glendale, California, although, who knows? It may be in Watertown! We haven't been able to get out because of the snow piles that you may have noticed in my earlier blog posts.
DeleteNo doubt, these are Turkish women dressed as Armenian idylls, happy, nay, delirious in their new found pulchritude sans the mask of the slave. Surely, this must be the explanation. The CEO of Starbucks could not possibly be as brain-dead as George Bush, who described the moon and star religion as a religion of peace.
DeleteThey are clearly American models. And who drinks coffee while they are dancing? Are they on break?
ReplyDeleteHow can such a large and international company have so little knowledge of world history. And I don’t like their coffee, either.
ReplyDeleteProof people don't study history any more, nor are they God-fearing. The artist probably thought he was depicting Turkish women in oriental costume.
ReplyDeleteTo all the Armenian community, I wish to apologize for the photograph taken for Starbucks from 2011. Neither I nor the photographer thought the dancers could be Armenian. We were traveling around the world shooting photojournalistic images for the brand and captured this image during a festival in 2011 for Ataturk. There was no Photoshopping or models used. Once it came to my attention that this was rightfully offensive to the Armenian community, I took the image down. I would never knowingly supported any action that would hurt either them or cause unnecessary pain. My deepest apologies.".
ReplyDelete