Rhetorical Analysis of Starbucks' Advertisement about Transphobia
-Shreya Rajashekhar
Starbucks has been a leading beverage company worldwide and entered the Indian
Market in October 2012. It did not quite get a hit in the Indian marketplace due to the high
pricing and low affordability to a huge mass. The stores of Starbucks slowly became a place
where people walked in not just for coffee but also a place of solitude and silence. The
company targeted younger audiences and people who sought a peaceful place to work.
The most recent advertisement that Starbucks released in India was with the hashtag
'it starts with your name' where they tried to vocalise a taboo subject of Transphobia. The
advertisement begins with the father buying a cup of coffee for her daughter with her new
name on it as Arpita, previously known as Arpit, finally showing acceptance to her. The
video was an instant hit and gained a lot of views in a short time on YouTube as well as
Twitter. The advertisement received a mixed reaction from the Indian masses. While few
showed their acceptance and support for addressing an issue like this while others were
outraged and dismissed it as Western propaganda. Whatever the reactions were, ultimately
Starbucks caught the attention of all and stayed in the news for a long period.
The advertisement draws attention to the prevailing issue of transphobia in India and
sheds light on how society views an individual and at times how problematic and
uncomfortable it can be. It talks about the deep-rooted norms of the society that we live in
and the stereotypes that are associated with the queer community, especially in a country like
India where the mindsets of people are very ridged. It further explains how small steps
towards acceptance can only be led through education and awareness.
The advertisement targets younger audiences who are active participants in the new
ageing society with awareness of the queer community and acceptance and empathy towards
all genders and sexualities. At the same time, it also tries to reach the older generation as to
how their small steps towards understanding and destigmatising the community can lead to a
society where everyone irrespective of their gender identities can find their own fair space in
the society.
It tried to reach the targeted community which is the higher middle class and members
of queer community, youngsters (being the main target) and the elderly population (being the
allied target). The writers of the advertisement wisely chose a taboo subject deliberately,
which drew high attention and popularity in the mainstream media, demonstrating a good
marketing strategy that also served a social purpose. In addition to it, we can also see the
active use of Ethos, Pathos and Logos in the advertisement connecting to different people on
different levels. The colour pallet of the frames is consistently green representing hope,
harmony, and optimism and red (Arpitha's costume) represents courage. The ditty at the end
beautifully compliments the messaging of the advertisement.
The Arpita of the advertisement is a real-life transgender woman- Siya who once was
Saurav who has been very transparent about her journey and the hurdles that she has faced.
From being made fun of in school to being a successful actor and model, Siya has had a roller
coaster journey of twenty-five years. Many such Siyas are opening up their stories on social
media and taking a step towards destigmatising the taboo.
I believe the ad campaign was a success in all its terms, someone and somewhere had
to give it a start to talk about it. In the latest news, we have the movie ‘Taali’ starring
Susmitha Sen addressing the same issue. Previously in Bollywood, we have had movies like
‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’ with Anshuman Khurana and Vaani Kapoor, ‘Laxmii’ staring
the very well know actor Akshay Kumar which was hit-miss movie despite some powerful
performances including Sharad Kelkar could not save the movie because of its poor scripting,
the other extreme of the Starbucks's. In conclusion, the advertisement met its purpose of
reaching people either through hate or love. It can be undoubtedly called witty marketing.
Link to the advertisement: https://youtu.be/qI0ZF_DF-6Q
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