The CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol, has just announced that across the US, AI robots will take orders at drive-throughs, count stock, and help baristas with recipes. Following boycotts over staff contracts and the business’s financial affiliations with Israel, Starbucks is relying on these AI innovations to restore revenue and public favour.
Unfortunately for Niccol, it will take a lot more than robots to win customers back.
It’s been three years since a member of the Starbucks Workers United union tweeted “Solidarity for Palestine!” with an image of a bulldozer going through a fence encircling Gaza. This led the company to sue SWU over the unauthorised use of the Starbucks name and logo.
Within the lawsuit they claimed that Starbucks has “no political agenda,” and the publicity around it drew attention to both their financial affiliations with Israel and the business’s unfair labour practices against staff. These two controversies led to public boycotts and protests.
In response to riots and vandalism at their stores, Starbucks issued a statement in 2023, saying, “Truth matters. In response to misinformation we’re sharing the facts on what Starbucks believes and stands for.” They then went on to claim, “Starbucks has never contributed to any government or military operation in any way.”
To make sure that the “Truth matters,” let’s address that last statement. It’s true the business may not have directly contributed to the Israeli government, and yes, there are no Starbucks cafes in Israel. Regardless of the business’s intentions for political neutrality, however, its major investors seem to have other plans. One major investor, The Vanguard Group, holds 7.7 per cent of Starbucks’ shares. It is also coincidentally the top shareholder in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company. BlackRock is another institution with 7.2 per cent of Starbucks’ shares, and BlackRock and Vanguard are both major shareholders in Lockheed Martin, a company producing fighter jets for the Israeli military.
Unfortunately for Starbucks, their investors are “proud of the significant role it has fulfilled in the security of the State of Israel,” and so a “political agenda” is entangled with the brand whether they like it or not. This begs the question: Will an AI revamp be enough to steer customers away from this controversy?
When announcing new AI features in their cafes, Niccoli claimed that the innovation will help bring “experience, customer and connection” back after “We lost our focus because we got a little too distracted on efficiency and technology.” Despite Niccoli’s hopes, I doubt the introduction of AI will steer the business away from its technology and efficiency priorities.
Along with robots, Niccoli announced a stricter uniform code for workers, a goal of making all drinks in under four minutes, and a rule that bathrooms can be used only by those purchasing a drink. ll rather Draconian measures to take when reforming the ‘cosy cafe’ vibe.
As for “customer connection”, handwriting names onto coffee cups might give a quick personal touch, but a robot taking my order sure won’t bolster that “connection”. Bringing a company back into public popularity needs more than an AI gimmick, especially if the original ethical issues remain.