Starbucks closed its corporate stores for three hours Tuesday afternoon to conduct racial sensitivity training, and the media's response to this historic event was overwhelming. After CEO Kevin Johnson and executive chairman Howard Schultz appeared on multiple shows to tout their anti-bias measures, reporters and anchors were eager to share those important talking points with viewers.
This teachable moment was able to demonstrate the corporate values that put Starbucks and other multinational corporations at the vanguard of cultural sensitivity. It even cost Starbucks — whose total revenue in 2017 was $22.4 billion — about 12 million bucks in lost revenue.
