Fiscal Report for 2008, let's see if this one is actually true...

Article: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090422006395&newsLang=en

Starbucks is releasing their annual fiscal report for 2008. To do this, they have created a website called Starbucks Shared Planet with interactive sections of the report that are important to them. I think this is a really cool and actually spent a good amount of time exploring the website myself.

In one part of the website it Starbucks claims that they have always been committed to doing business in a responsible way. To me, this is a very bold statement and really shouldn't be made with all the fuss about how much water is wasted daily by Starbucks, and how they refuse to use recyclable cups.

I like the idea behind explaining everything on an interactive website and I like that everything on the website is explained and illustrated well. 

On the website, there is a mug pledge where customers or visitors to the site can pledge to bring in mugs rather than using the non-disposable cups. To me, this is hypocritical because Starbucks is encouraging customers to bring in mugs when they could easily switch to an alternative hot coffee cup which would be recyclable.

I'm excited to use the report in my most recent paper concerning ethics and Ads by Starbucks. This whole ad and campaign very clearly states Starbucks so called "intentions" for coporate responsibility so it will be interesting to see if any of their practices ignore this commitment and campaign. 

On the website is a virtual tour of the new green Starbucks which illustrates all the green aspects of the  new stores. Also, the article shows the numbers on ethical sourcing, stewardship, and community involvement. The new numbers are astounding and I have never seen such high numbers since i first began studying the corporation. This will really make for a good measure of Starbucks real practices. 

Starbucks decided to open up this site on earth day, which i know will draw more customers in. This is a great way to get people involved in the Starbucks shared responsibility campaign. There is an aspect of advertising that has to be examined so that customers know that Starbucks is backing up what is in the Social Responsibility report with actions.