Ad Campaigns
Starbucks receives bouquets and brickbats for its trans-inclusive campaign
Mumbai: The internet has gone into a tizzy with regard to the launch of the recent campaign by TATA Starbucks India – #ItStartsWithYourName. The campaign has been receiving rave reviews, and negative ones too.
The brand film which is conceptualized by Edelman, opens with an elderly couple at a TATA Starbucks store, waiting for their son Arpit to arrive, with his father seemingly upset and the mother urging the father to remain composed. In the frame after, a nervous young girl approaches the couple and sits next to them. It is only then that audience realises that the couple is meeting their transgender daughter for the first time. Cutting through the awkward tension between them, the father goes on to place the order for coffee. As the situation becomes awkward, the family hears the familiar voice of the Starbucks barista calling out ‘Three cold coffees for Arpita.’ She is pleasantly surprised on realising her father’s acceptance and they all tear up as the family reunites.
Like many other brands that have been on this trail of showing solidarity towards the community by being trans-inclusive, this attempt by TATA Starbucks India too has backfired. And when you look closely, this ad seems to be on the lines of its UK counterpart in which the protagonist chooses to go beyond the birth name, and how Starbucks helps to bring forth the true identity.
It is to be noted that directly affecting the LGBTQ movement in the country, there is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court seeking validity and legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court’s five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, is hearing arguments on a batch of pleas seeking legal sanction on the same.
In a press release, TATA Starbucks Pvt Ltd chief marketing officer Deepa Krishnan said, “Starbucks has always been a warm, welcoming space for its customers where relationships are fostered, and personal connections are celebrated over a cup of coffee. The unique Starbucks experience where everyone feels welcome is what drives our growth. At Starbucks, we are not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee, nurturing the limitless possibilities of human connection every day. With the #ItStartsWithYourName campaign – we hope to further drive the message of being a welcoming, inclusive brand where nothing matters to us more than our customers’ comfort. We understand that our customers enjoy and cherish their individuality and we are always ready to celebrate it with them.”
Also, Edelman lead advisor – brand marketing and communications Ashutosh Munshi said, “#ItStartsWithYourName – campaign brings to the fore the essence of the TATA Starbucks experience, where customers are recognized personally, by their names. This 360-degree, integrated campaign includes a new brand film and a suite of marketing communication assets that highlight Starbucks’ unique ability to create a sense of belonging for its customers while making meaningful relationships.”
A lot of viewers feel that the film is provocative and takes a woke stance. Politicising coffee is not what consumers are looking forward to. However, there are many who feel that the campaign touches the right chord, is real, and subject sensitive.
Is it time to boycott @StarbucksIndia? #BoycottStarbucks #budlite #tatastarbucks @TataCompanies pic.twitter.com/Ropnlcn5uL
— Rajiv Malhotra (@RajivMessage) May 11, 2023
A callous trivialisation of a serious life altering situation involving a journey of pain and anguish, is unnecessary. Don’t understand what some MNCs and advertisers gain by exposing their shallow understanding of issues. https://t.co/4Bw5zfyT37
— Tuhin A. Sinha तुहिन सिन्हा (@tuhins) May 12, 2023
Starbucks
Coffee is their other product
Main product of Starbucks is wokeness
Supporting LGBTQ, Trans activism, Same Sex marriage, immigrants is part of corporate philosophy of Starbucks
Now they started their woke agenda in India. #BoycottStarbucks
1/4 pic.twitter.com/XEo8yWL8r4
— STAR Boy (@Starboy2079) May 11, 2023
Are you @StarbucksIndia in India to do business OR to promote wokeism nonsense?@TataCompanies@RNTata2000@Starbucks#Boycott_StarBucks pic.twitter.com/oBDFShKDpm
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS (Retired) (@MNageswarRaoIPS) May 11, 2023
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
