A Starbucks location created a controversial sign that has left Taylor Swift fans fiercely divided between disappointment and amusement. Reading “Which Taylor Swift ex are you?” the sign featured eight classic Starbucks drinks to order—but assigned Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriends to each drink.
After causing a viral debate storm on the Internet, word got out to Starbucks corporate, and the sign was ordered to be removed.
Swiftie Starbucks Employee Creates Now-Removed Viral Advertisement
From the sign’s advertisement, customers could order any of Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriends in drink form. Customers could pick a drink from a range of the singer’s dating history: Swfit’s latest ex “Joe Alwyn” (a hot chai with oat milk), the singer’s early fling “Joe Jonas” (a dragon drink), or the songstress's viral beau “Harry Styles” (a hot vanilla latte). Other names to order included Calvin Harris, Taylor Lautner, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mayer, and Tom Hiddleston.
The viral sign, created by someone familiar with Taylor Swift’s history, fueled a huge amount of reactions online, especially since it was just reported the Midnights songwriter split from her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn last week.
READ MORE: Here’s How Taylor Swift Fans Can Order A ‘Lavender Haze’ Drink From Starbucks
Starbucks’ Taylor Swift Board Creates Viral Debate On Twitter
Some found it light-hearted, but others said the sign was created in poor taste, as there was no reason for a massive corporation to be ripping on a woman’s dating history, especially against Taylor Swift, who has faced a lot of heat for her relationships in the past.
“Someone’s relationship isn’t your ad campaign,” wrote one swiftie on Twitter. “It’s 2023 [and] time to grow up. These misogynistic jokes weren’t funny in 2016 and they’re not funny now,” another chimed in.
yeah bc it’s 2023 time to grow up. these misogynistic jokes weren’t funny in 2016 and they’re not funny now
— mia is on follow block (@whereyouleftmia) April 11, 2023
In a thread asking how people felt over the controversy, one fan answered, “Sexist… because if this were a man we were talking about nobody would care but because it’s Taylor Swift they feel the need to do this.” Another added, “They’ve never done that for Pete Davidson or Leonardo DiCaprio,” who have also had many highly publicized relationships.
sexist…because if this was a man we were talking about nobody would care but because it’s taylor swift they feel the need to do this. pic.twitter.com/aPyMuXxAFP
— austin: on tour finally! (@austinloveswift) April 11, 2023
Taylor Swift’s own song, The Man, from her Lover album reaffirms this sentiment. She sings, “I'm so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man”—a nod to how much harder she’s had to work to run from false claims and controversy.
Still, others didn’t see the need to put one employee’s job at risk over something so “harmless.”
One person wrote, “This was obviously done by a swiftie and is harmless like why snitch tag corporate???” which caused a flood of heated replies. They wrote in another tweet, “This very much reads as a Taylor Swift fan having a little fun about her love life idk if it’s necessarily malicious or made by a hater.”
This was obviously done by a swiftie and is harmless like why snitch tag corporate??? https://t.co/g14If11c4R
— Ashley Reese (@offbeatorbit) April 12, 2023
In a separate post, someone added, “To be fair, it’s not really Starbucks that’s using her for marketing. A couple of employees at individual stores usually decide to make signs like that for fun.”
Another person penned, “I think that Starbucks’ are franchises and baristas are encouraged to get creative with recommended drink boards (employee faves, drinks that fit tv show vibes, etc) and even though this was in bad taste, it does not reflect the company as a whole.”
Regardless, Starbucks announced they removed the sign. In a statement on Twitter, the Starbucks account wrote, “Thank you for bringing this to our attention! The content of this sign was not approved and has since been erased.”
Thank you for bringing this to our attention! The content of this sign was not approved and has since been erased.
— Starbucks Care (@StarbucksCare) April 11, 2023
As much as we want to order a “Harry Styles,” perhaps next time it can be done in better taste (though a hot vanilla latter surely doesn’t sound too bad).
