Protesters with the animal rights group PETA cemented themselves to the driveway of a Nashville Starbucks on Thursday to protest the price upcharge the coffee giant charges for vegan milk substitutions.
Standing our ground against @Starbucks’s vegan upcharge like 👇 pic.twitter.com/aivRHdmZH5
— PETA (@peta) August 18, 2022
According to Business Insider, “Starbucks added oat milk in March 2021, alongside almond milk added in 2016 and coconut milk in 2015. The chain has had plant-based milk on the menu since 2004, with the addition of soy milk.”
The outlet notes that “plant-based milk currently comes with a 70 cent upcharge on any drinks they are added to.”
On Thursday, the animal rights group posted multiple videos on Twitter showing the protesters blocking the Starbucks’ drive-thru by having their feet cemented into concrete blocks in a line spanning across the storefront.
One tweet read, “PETA supporters have cemented themselves to a @Starbucks driveway in Nashville to stand firm against the company’s vegan milk upcharge, which hurts cows, the planet, and customers who are lactose-intolerant! And they’re not going anywhere.
PETA supporters have cemented themselves to a @Starbucks driveway in Nashville to stand firm against the company’s vegan milk upcharge, which hurts cows, the planet, and customers who are lactose-intolerant!
And they’re not going anywhere. pic.twitter.com/pC593lbaq5
— PETA (@peta) August 18, 2022
Another tweet read, “Hey @Starbucks, we’re digging our heels in, literally. The coffee chain’s upcharge on vegan milks is bad for cows, bad for the planet, and bad for lactose-intolerant customers! Our resolve has will only harden like cement, #Starbucks, until you drop the vegan upcharge.”
Hey @Starbucks, we’re digging our heels in, literally 🤪
The coffee chain's upcharge on vegan milks is bad for cows, bad for the planet, and bad for lactose-intolerant customers!
Our resolve has will only harden like cement, #Starbucks, until you drop the vegan upcharge. pic.twitter.com/sBmZcqsJDN
— PETA (@peta) August 18, 2022
Police eventually arrived at the scene, and, according to PETA, the activists were under arrest for disorderly conduct and trespassing violations.
UPDATE: Police arrived at the scene where PETA supporters are “standing firm” against the company’s unjust vegan milk upcharge! pic.twitter.com/XE99IQ6bOO
— PETA (@peta) August 18, 2022
BREAKING: PETA activists are being ARRESTED for cementing themselves in front of a @Starbucks in #Nashville.
We won’t stop digging in our heels until @Starbucks drops the vegan upcharge! pic.twitter.com/GcK4Q66a76
— PETA (@peta) August 18, 2022
The activists were eventually drilled out of the cement blocks by police.
BREAKING UPDATE: These activists had to be DRILLED out of the cement blocks they were stuck in at a Starbucks drive-thru.
PETA supporters will stop at NOTHING to make sure @Starbucks drops its hypocritical and unethical upcharge for vegan milk. pic.twitter.com/Gzhf3noRFM— PETA (@peta) August 18, 2022
In regard to the upcharge on vegan milk, PETA writes on its website, “It’s awesome that Starbucks offers so many delicious vegan milk options — such as coconut, soy, oat, and almond milk — but customers shouldn’t have to pay extra to have dairy-free milk in their drinks. More people than ever before are ditching dairy and going vegan to help animals, save the environment, and improve their own health. It’s time that Starbucks stopped charging customers extra for choosing dairy-free milks!”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “PETA Protesters” by PETA.
use them for target practice.kill all vegan commies.
I’d drive through that yellow tape like I had just won a marathon.
But… I brew my own Joe, never been and never will shop at Starbucks.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
The Starbucks manager should have went out there with a dolly and just moved the people into the street.
No, doubt! WHY is MNPD saving them from themselves?! Let THEM figure out how to get out of that concrete! Did they even think about that when they poured it? OF COURSE NOT! They just assumed that someone else would do it! STOP CUDDLING THESE PEOPLE! Let them suffer the consequences of their actions like the rest of us!
I’m not sure why the police thought they should drill them out. Why not let them reap the consequences of their own foolishness – at least for a few more hours?
Abolish Soy!
Of all the completely stupid things to protest. Imagine going to a company that is proactively offering vegan milk and then being mad they’re charging more for it. There’s got to be thousands of coffee shops in the US that offer no vegan milk at all, but are they protesting them? Nope.
PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals.
Hey PETA members – the sun does not rise and set in your behinds. Why don’t you grown ups stop acting like attention – seeking children? No, bad attention is not better than no attention. If you love animals, why don’t you actually do something to help them, figure out the REAL reasons why vegan dairy options cost so much more, and protest there? A little hint- It happens waaay before Starbucks. So, PETA people, if you love animals the way you say that you do, make it truly about them, and not you.
Gee wiz…what a noble cause. Why don’t you sorry excuses for American citizens use you time to better the lives of those less fortunate instead of denying people their coffee? How totally pathetic.
iT’S TIME THAT THESE IDIOTS EITHER NOT GO TO STARBUCKS, OR BETTER YET LEAVE THEM IN THE CEMENT RIGHT WHERE THEY ARE.
TTS, where’s the upvote button?
Amen
How about a free ride to the lake! 😆
Yes