The Starbucks Coffee chain was the target of fierce controversy, after the story broke that the company donates part of its profits to the Israeli army.
This came about because the President, Chairman, and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is Jewish.
This was actually a false rumor, but groups protested and acted against Starbucks anyway. Due to protests about this false rumor, Starbucks had to close a store in Beirut, Lebanon.
Pro-Palestine supporters also vandalized a Starbucks store in London on January 12, 2009, and it is believed that they tossed a firebomb onto the location after dark, causing more damage.
On January 17th, there was a protest at Trafalgar Square in London. Two more Starbucks in the city were attacked and vandalized, by people upset over the alleged Zionist ties. Besides this controversy, Starbucks has dealt with labor disputes as well, over union issues.
In 2006 the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) protested and picketed outside fifty Starbucks locations in the US, demanding the reinstatement of some fired Starbucks employees, who had been engaging in union-organizing.
More recently, in 2008 the company has had to pay some baristas $100 million in lost wages, as the business practices had robbed them of some tip money, against labor laws. Starbucks has not had a smooth run during its existence, but it is still arguably the most popular coffee chain in the world.
Negative press and these controversies have hurt the company in the public sphere, but it still remains profitable and successful, despite all these setbacks.
