If youโre an avid watcher of Comedy Central‘s The Daily Show, then you already know that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz stopped by the studio yesterday to have a sit down with Trevor Noah. But if, like me, your devotion has been on a slow decline since Jon Stewart left the desk, then this may be news to you. Youโre the ones Iโm talking to.
Guess what! Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was on the Daily Show last night!
The interview begins with Noah giving Schultz a pretty thorough ribbing, incorrectly spelling his name as โHayward Schlitzโ on his mug and suggesting that perhaps the orangeness of Starbucksโ pumpkin spice lattes have contributed to Republican candidate Donald Trumpโs unexpected popularity. Noah even brought up the Race Together initiative, Starbucksโ widely panned attempt to stimulate conversation on race relations, with Noah stating that it went โhorribly wrong.โ
But Schultz took it all in stride, which I guess you kinda have to when you go on a comedy show to promote something. And the Starbucks CEO was there to talk about the companyโs new original content Upstanders, โan original collection of short stories, films and podcasts sharing the experiences of Upstanders โ ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities,โ according to the Starbucks website.
Included in Upstanders content already available are stories about wounded vets overcoming adversity, a young woman trying to solve the problem of food waste, and a church in Nashville welcoming a mosque being built across the street. The last example an Eater article has already dubbed as โkind of racist,โ to which I have to say, โreally?โ Should a congregation overcoming latent xenophobia be considered extraordinary? No. But with Islamophobia running rampant in America, it kind of is. Let them tell their sweet story; itโs one worth hearing. Stop trollinโ for clicks. /rant
Aaaaaaanyway, the interview shows the softer side of the mega-corporation, and Schultz comes across as a thoughtful, sincere individual trying to use his platform to make the world a better place, with mixed results thus far. Itโs definitely worth a watch, even if you are the sort of person that would never be caught dead in the belly of the big green beast.
The full interview can be seen on Comedy Centralโs website here, and the complete Upstanders catalog can be found here.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
*top image via Comedy Central
