Actress Thandie Newton was shocked and dismayed when she happened upon an offensive display at a Starbucks located in the Soho section of London. Sitting on the counter was a statue of a little black boy, dressed in a loincloth and holding a basket of coffee beans.
The actress immediately tweeted the Starbucks corporate account with a picture of the statue:
https://twitter.com/thandienewton/status/684073561359781888
After Newton tweeted the photo to her followers and the company, others chimed in on the social media site:
https://twitter.com/livingsatya/status/684794941097132032 https://twitter.com/perfecthow/status/684719007560282113
The company immediately took action and responded to Newton’s tweet.
https://twitter.com/starbuckshelp/status/684168326415663104
“We are very concerned to learn of this incident & we can’t apologi[z]e enough. We have removed the figure & are investigating,” Starbucks tweeted.
One has to wonder how many other people complained to Starbucks, or the store employees, about the statue.