Starbucks Does Not Support Freedom

Starbucks, a company who I've defended in the past, has now crossed the line with their anti-freedom drivel.

But when my friend Roger Ream, president of the Fund for American Studies, received a Starbucks gift card for Christmas, he found there was a limit to how personalized a card could be. His card required him to customize it on the company's Web site. So he went to the site and requested that the phrase "Laissez Faire" be printed on his card. A few days later he was informed that the company couldn't issue such a card because the wording violated company policy.

Starbucks's company policy is this: "We review each Card before printing it to make sure it meets our personalization policy. We accept most personalization requests, but we can't honor every one. Some requests may contain trademarks that we don't have the right to use. Others may contain material that we consider inappropriate (such as threatening remarks, derogatory terms, or overtly political commentary) or wouldn't want to see on Starbucks-branded products.[bold added]

What is offensive about the phase "let alone"? What is wrong with freedom? Laissez-faire is a term used to describe economic freedom, not enslavement or serfdom. Why does Starbucks not want to promote freedom, the one concept that continually allows Starbucks to exist?

Maybe Starbucks considers the phrase inappropriate because it's "overtly political commentary"? Certainly my friend regards it as a firm statement of political philosophy.

And so, at my suggestion, my friend went back to the Web site and asked that his card be issued with the phrase "People Not Profits." Bingo! Starbucks had no problem with that phrase, and the card arrived in a few days.[bold added]

Words relating to freedom become cast aside to allow words representing socialist force (i.e. "people not profits") to emerge. I can say that I've never been a fan of coffee, but now I can say without reservation, that I am no fan of Starbucks. The hypocrisy is palpable and offensive.