Starbucks has launched a holiday ad featuring two women about to kiss, and an older white woman holding hands in a park with a man wearing a taqiyah, a type of skull cap often worn by Muslims.
“The holidays mean something different to everyone,” states text during the 30-second animated ad, which features a hand-drawn white dove flying towards the couple in the park, a young woman talking to an elderly relative via her laptop, people of different races decorating a Christmas tree and two women about to kiss as fireworks appear.
For Allen Adamson, founder and CEO of BrandSimple Consulting, using animation allows Starbucks to have control of its message. “They are leaning in to the issue of this country needs to come together across all lines and by making it an animation it’s a little softer and potentially less polarizing,” he told CNBC by phone.
