PETA Activists Glue Themselves To Starbucks Counters To Protest Vegan Milk Surcharge

Daniel Mitchell-Benoit
PETA demonstrators, one with his hand glued to the counter.
twitter | @peta

It's becoming more common now than ever to reduce the dairy intake in one's life. Be it for dietary, taste, or environmental reasons, tons of people are making the switch to milk alternatives, especially in their coffee.

Starbucks offers plenty of alternatives, but to this day will still charge its customers extra for using them. PETA seems to have a big problem with this, and has taken a new, bold step in showing their distaste.

Some Seattle Starbucks were taken over this past Earth Day.

To commemorate the day we use to acknowledge the betterment of our planet through greener actions, PETA had a few of their demonstrators storm Starbucks locations in Seattle and superglue a hand to their countertops.

Why, you may ask?

A Starbucks cup of coffee.
Unsplash | Gema Saputera

It was a form of protest against the fact that Starbucks upcharges people who opt for a dairy-free milk substitute in their drinks such as soy or oat milk.

The pressure to drop the surcharge has been ongoing for over a year now, but to no avail quite yet. At least, not in US stores.

The UK branch of the popular coffee chain ended the upcharge in January of this year.

Starbucks baristas working.
Unsplash | Asael Peña

And PETA is hoping that change in policy will be followed company-wide.

They even called out Starbucks' former CEO Kevin Johnson on Twitter for the $60 million payout he received when he stepped down, saying it could have paid the upcharge for tens of millions of drinks.

Last year, PETA Honorary Director Alan Cumming wrote an letter to Johnson.

A starbucks sign.
Unsplash | Hamza Inayat

"[I]t’s been over a year since your company acknowledged that cow’s milk is its biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions, yet you are still charging more for vegan milk," it read, "I’m urging you to put your words into action by dropping the surcharge on it."

The fight is still going strong.

Two of the demonstrators, once freed from their bond to the Starbucks' counters, are now facing felony charges of theft and destruction of property.

Seeing that letters didn't work, it's obvious that PETA is stepping up their strategies, and only time will tell how well that works out for them.

h/t: LADBible