Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KUWAIT112
2009-02-08 11:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
how-toVZCZCXRO5751 PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR DE RUEHKU #0112 0391132 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 081132Z FEB 09 FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2782 INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1987 RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 1144 RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 1155
C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000112
SIPDIS
STATE TO PUBLIC AFFAIRS; AMMAN TO PAO; BEIRUT TO PAO; CAIRO
TO PAO; RIYADH TO PAO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2019
TAGS: PROP EINV XF KU
SUBJECT: STARBUCKS AND THE GAZA EFFECT
Classified By: Econcouns Oliver John for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000112
SIPDIS
STATE TO PUBLIC AFFAIRS; AMMAN TO PAO; BEIRUT TO PAO; CAIRO
TO PAO; RIYADH TO PAO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2019
TAGS: PROP EINV XF KU
SUBJECT: STARBUCKS AND THE GAZA EFFECT
Classified By: Econcouns Oliver John for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. (C) Summary: Starbucks' business in parts of the Middle
East is suffering as a result of the recent Gaza clashes and
rumors regarding the company's founder's purported support
for the Israeli Government, according to executives at Al
Shaya Co., which owns all Starbucks stores in the Middle
East. Starbucks' founder and CEO, Howard Schultz, will
undertake media appearances with select Arab news channels in
order to dispel myths surrounding his, and his company,s,
support for Israeli actions in Gaza and elsewhere. End
Summary.
2. (C) In a meeting with Econoff February 5, executives at Al
Shaya Co. -- a Kuwait-based retailing behemoth with 1,500
stores in the Middle East, Turkey and Russia -- said that
their Starbucks stores in parts of the Middle East were
losing business as a result of the recent violence in Gaza.
VP of Corporate Communications Martin Norris and Ali Itani, a
manager in the same department (and former International
Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
in Washington, DC) said that stores in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon
and Jordan, in particular, had suffered in recent weeks.
They said that a number of stores in Kuwait have experienced
incidents whereby a woman in a car drives by, screaming
epithets at customers. Al Shaya Co. owns and operates more
than 240 Starbucks outlets in the Middle East.
SPOOF LETTER HAUNTS SCHULTZ
--------------
3. (C) Norris and Itani said that Starbucks stores were the
targets of both boycotts and "incidents" because of
Starbucks, founder and CEO Howard Schultz's Jewish
background and purported pro-Israeli beliefs. They said that
much of the controversy surrounding Shultz emanates from a
satirical letter written by an anti-Israel activist called
Andrew Winkler in 2006 (who posted his satire on the internet
in response to the Israeli-Hezbollah clashes in mid-2006).
The letter reemerged on blogs and websites during the recent
Gaza clashes. (Note: the letter is available at:
www.snopes.com/politics/israel/schultz.asp. End Note).
4. (C) Norris said that he has been in extensive discussions
with Starbucks International's head office in the Netherlands
about possible strategies for containing the effects of this
rumor-mongering. He said that he advocated strongly for
media appearances by Schultz, which, he asserts, Schultz's
advisors have only recently agreed to. Norris said that
Schultz will likely appear on Al Arabiya in the near future,
following in President Obama,s footsteps.
WELL-TRODDEN PATH
--------------
5. (C) Comment: Starbucks is following in the well-trodden
footsteps of other American consumer brands in the Arab
world, with allegations of corporate sponsorship of the
Israeli Government causing consternation amongst the Gulf and
Levantine chattering classes. (Coca Cola was formally
boycotted by the Arab League from 1968 to 1991 after opening
a bottling plant in Tel Aviv, and its sales plunged 15% in
Egypt in 2000 after rumors asserted that the Coca Cola logo
contained anti-Muslim messages). Econoffs discussed the
Starbucks controversy with a handful of Kuwaitis (three
corporate executives, a dean at Kuwait University and two
housewives) and all, unprompted, mentioned Schultz's
pro-Israel "letter." None of these Western educated Kuwaitis
knew that the letter was a spoof. Starbucks' business is
unlikely to suffer major losses as a result of the Gaza
clashes and the Schultz rumors, but American consumer brands
will likely continue to be targets of informal boycotts
whenever clashes occur between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
End Comment.
********************************************* *********
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at:
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it
********************************************* *********
JONES
SIPDIS
STATE TO PUBLIC AFFAIRS; AMMAN TO PAO; BEIRUT TO PAO; CAIRO
TO PAO; RIYADH TO PAO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2019
TAGS: PROP EINV XF KU
SUBJECT: STARBUCKS AND THE GAZA EFFECT
Classified By: Econcouns Oliver John for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. (C) Summary: Starbucks' business in parts of the Middle
East is suffering as a result of the recent Gaza clashes and
rumors regarding the company's founder's purported support
for the Israeli Government, according to executives at Al
Shaya Co., which owns all Starbucks stores in the Middle
East. Starbucks' founder and CEO, Howard Schultz, will
undertake media appearances with select Arab news channels in
order to dispel myths surrounding his, and his company,s,
support for Israeli actions in Gaza and elsewhere. End
Summary.
2. (C) In a meeting with Econoff February 5, executives at Al
Shaya Co. -- a Kuwait-based retailing behemoth with 1,500
stores in the Middle East, Turkey and Russia -- said that
their Starbucks stores in parts of the Middle East were
losing business as a result of the recent violence in Gaza.
VP of Corporate Communications Martin Norris and Ali Itani, a
manager in the same department (and former International
Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
in Washington, DC) said that stores in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon
and Jordan, in particular, had suffered in recent weeks.
They said that a number of stores in Kuwait have experienced
incidents whereby a woman in a car drives by, screaming
epithets at customers. Al Shaya Co. owns and operates more
than 240 Starbucks outlets in the Middle East.
SPOOF LETTER HAUNTS SCHULTZ
--------------
3. (C) Norris and Itani said that Starbucks stores were the
targets of both boycotts and "incidents" because of
Starbucks, founder and CEO Howard Schultz's Jewish
background and purported pro-Israeli beliefs. They said that
much of the controversy surrounding Shultz emanates from a
satirical letter written by an anti-Israel activist called
Andrew Winkler in 2006 (who posted his satire on the internet
in response to the Israeli-Hezbollah clashes in mid-2006).
The letter reemerged on blogs and websites during the recent
Gaza clashes. (Note: the letter is available at:
www.snopes.com/politics/israel/schultz.asp. End Note).
4. (C) Norris said that he has been in extensive discussions
with Starbucks International's head office in the Netherlands
about possible strategies for containing the effects of this
rumor-mongering. He said that he advocated strongly for
media appearances by Schultz, which, he asserts, Schultz's
advisors have only recently agreed to. Norris said that
Schultz will likely appear on Al Arabiya in the near future,
following in President Obama,s footsteps.
WELL-TRODDEN PATH
--------------
5. (C) Comment: Starbucks is following in the well-trodden
footsteps of other American consumer brands in the Arab
world, with allegations of corporate sponsorship of the
Israeli Government causing consternation amongst the Gulf and
Levantine chattering classes. (Coca Cola was formally
boycotted by the Arab League from 1968 to 1991 after opening
a bottling plant in Tel Aviv, and its sales plunged 15% in
Egypt in 2000 after rumors asserted that the Coca Cola logo
contained anti-Muslim messages). Econoffs discussed the
Starbucks controversy with a handful of Kuwaitis (three
corporate executives, a dean at Kuwait University and two
housewives) and all, unprompted, mentioned Schultz's
pro-Israel "letter." None of these Western educated Kuwaitis
knew that the letter was a spoof. Starbucks' business is
unlikely to suffer major losses as a result of the Gaza
clashes and the Schultz rumors, but American consumer brands
will likely continue to be targets of informal boycotts
whenever clashes occur between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
End Comment.
********************************************* *********
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at:
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it
********************************************* *********
JONES