Starbucks Just Sent A Very Strong Message About Unity

What's more sincere than a peace message brought to you by a billion dollar corporation, am I right?

In a full page ad in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on Thursday, the coffee company urged Americans to "go beyond the hatred and vitriol" and stop fighting over silly things like politics, religion, and class.

MSNBC reporter Jane C. Timm tweeted a picture of the full message this morning.

When you read the headlines. Or turn on the news. When you scroll through your social media feed. Or listen to the candidates. You could easily mistake America as a nation, lost. A people who have severed the common bonds that hold us together — compassion, respect, shared responsibility, a belief in service, a willingness to unite despite our differences. Today, for just a moment, we wanted to pause and reflect. To go beyond the hatred and vitriol, and see a different story of America. It's a story that is not bound by party affiliations, or religious beliefs. It's not dependent on living in one zip code over another. It's not left-leaning or right-leaning. It's not about your income or your wealth. It lives in our small towns, and also in our cities. In the classroom of a teacher who is fighting for the potential in every student. You see it in the volunteer who mentors youth, and in those helping America's veterans successfully transition to civilian life. And in those who work to include, rather than discriminate. You see it in the leader who invests in her community. And in the nurse who treats the elderly with dignity. This is the story we believe in. This is not about the choice we make every four years. This is about the choices we make every single day.

It's a bit vague, but the conclusion — "This is not about the choice we make every four years" — seems to suggest Starbucks thinks this election season is way overrated, and can't we all just get along?

This is not the first time Starbucks has used its platform to send out a humanitarian message. The company recently pledged to donate all of its unsold food to food banks around the nation.

There is one line of the message that stood out to me.

It's "not about income or wealth," huh, Starbucks? In that case, why don't you try passing around some of those billions you're raking in, and we'll talk.