Great pics and nice banner. Starbucks isn't the only US corporate chain that has moved into Sheffield recently. Subway, a sandwich shop, was never seen in the UK until recently and now there are two or three here.

I met lots of clowns up in Perth but I must say that the decision to all dress the same apart from the numbers on your shoulders makes you look like real clowns

Can anyone name and theirfore shame the blonde women shown in the second photo caught red handed in $tarbuck$

She looks guilty to be their and the fact she is still sporting a Make Poverty History band shows she at least pretends to have a social conscience. Buy exploitative coffee and Indymedia will ruin your pretence to be right on !

the blonde in question was giving the clowns stick for being in the starbucks because apparently it isn't the fault of the workers that the company they work for is evil. she was still sitting in there though. and yes wearing the infamous white band. not sure quite why she's still wearing it though because supposedly poverty was made history at the grand ol' march in Edinburgh... somebody should inform her of this. she also told the clowns that they should take it up with head office, perhaps she is wiser than she seems and the circus may go pay a visit some time soon.
anyone interested..find the clowns. they wear wigs and tickle things.
word.

White wristbands also signify the newer, more trendy Make Radio History too as well as the older, failed, Make Poverty History. By avoiding any kind of bland aims or statements at all this fresh campaign hopes to maximise participation by not offending anyone. People can participate without changing their lifestyles. They can wear the white wristbands with a clean conscience.

With Make Radio History there is no contradiction between wearing a white wristband or even an MRH T-shirt and consuming Starbucks or McDonalds or Catapillar or even British Aerospace.

If more campaigns took this approach they might get a lot more support from the public.

 http://www.steveandfran.co.uk/makeradiohistory.htm


(But don't forget that the MPH white wristbands were manufactured in Chinese sweatshops anyway so shopping in Starbucks is entirely consistent with the Make Poverty History ethos.)

Just wanna say, i herd about that silly clown demontrations you all pulled off, i think its unfair that you try and undermind the staff who work at starbucks, has it ever entered your tiny little brains that they might be there just to earn cash to get through Uni life???? i guess not as your mommy and daddy proberbly pay for all your tuition, so as for supporting all the bad things you say Starbucks does, your full of it......you dont have a clue.....

Another point id like to make is how do you know all these little independant coffee houses get all their coffee fairly traided, do you acompany them to buy the beans, and watch when they traid, "no i didnt think so". so why the hell do you stick up for these places when their business is nothing to do with you, it drives me nuts when people think its a crime to see small buisnesses overtaken by giant coffee companys, do you really care that much that you have to prance about on the streets dressed like clowns, excuse me if it supposed to be "cool" . Personnally i think most of these small little buisnesses are full of wannabe's who think that "devonshire Street" is a holy place, for the cool only, and most of these people have never done anything or been anywhere to know any difference,.....

So have fun at your next demonstration, hope your parents are prowd!

Hi there jane. I thought that with all the effort that you put into your eloquent and well thought out e-mail, you deserved a reply.

Firstly, your preconception of the people involved in the protest living off rich parents was rash and false. After a recent survey it was discovered that the majority of the protestors on the day work part-time jobs to fund their education. This apparently is a must for most students as a result of lack-lustre government funding...but that is another story...perhaps the clowns will go out again and dance around because crap state support for higher education is cool, or something like that, which you may believe.
this leads me to my next point when you say 'do you really care that much about big chains overtaking local shops'. the answer being yes. Instead of perhaps going into a starbucks to chat shit about celebrities and drink frapadapalapchinos in starbacks, for example, the people who took part in the day made time to make a protest about alot of serious issues. One of these being the way in which chains like starbucks come into a local community swamp the market by putting a shop on every street corner, which takes income away from the local shops which may have been there for years. can you not see how that it is a negative thing for the incomes of local people to be taken away and instead filtered through the economic systems to the heads of corporations? i hope you can and now understand why the clowns felt inclined to pick up their featherdusters and head to the streets.

in response to your comment about annoying the workers the point is this-- the people who work in starbucks do not directly reap the rewards of their 8 hour mundane shifts. they receive a measly £5 an hour. Starbucks is essentially manipulating the labour of the workers for their own ends. this was also a reason for protest- to push for workers to unionise so that fair working conditions and wages can be in place. in new york, for example, starbucks workers were unable to unionise, which reflects the ethics of the corporation- which is why the protestors were there in the first place.

i do not have enough room to go on and fingers are not as nimble as they used to be. other people have written books on such issues and shall explain better that I. I suggest that you read 'No logo' and 'The corporation'. If you dont like reading the coprporation is also a film and naomi klein has recenly brought a film out. Some of the issues for the protest will be explained in there. perhaps you shall come and join us some time.

finally, on the subject of the starbucks student employers; due to the nature of their employers they may wish to seek a job elsewhere. At our student's union we are lucky enough to have a job shop, i recently walked past and they are advertising jobs in the voluntary sector(still paid) such as working with kids who want to learn about further education. perhaps this would be more productive than serving homogenised coffee in a homogenised shop taking the custom of the local people and making a small minority very rich. don't you think??

jane, i hope you reply, i would very much like that.

lots of love
wilfred

Hi,

Well here is my reply, better late than never..

Actually I happen to agree with what you say in your email responce but I just dont happen to care that much about what you seem to care about, I think its great that you support what you do in the way you choose to, however we are all intitled to our opinion, and at the time that was mine.
I commend you for being pasionate about what you believe in, however I find my self to be interested in other things more important to me and not the local shopkeepers!

Enjoy your next march, im sure there will be one soon, no doubt.

Jane

To go to Starbucks NOW in case you were interrested. Free market. Build a store of your own, buy more fair trade, sell coffee, and don't inject your cows then.
I like my coffee AVAILABLE.

Firstly i dont know where to start as a starbucks employee and a sheffield hallam student I find your comments quite biased, unfounded, unfactual and unreasoanable. I know for a fact people didnt not come into our store because you intimidated them. I am writting this after spending a very interesting 9 hours at work today and the fact that we took above average sales means that you stupid protest meant nothing I could go on and on and on but you'd try and attack me with your stupid duster and give me a flyer full of crap. Thank you for the time and space on your website

@up guy be quiet and dontswear you idiot