Posted on Jul 18, 2016 by Barista Life

And not force them to call out a controversial #Hashtag to make a viral video

Don't worry, you're not the first one who thought of the idea to tell your barista a fake, fictitious name in place of your own. However, it has turned from funny innocent names, like Harry Potter, or Voldemort, or Daddy, or whatever else your creative mind can come up with...but due to social media, it has turned into a very awkward situation for your barista.

Don't get us wrong, if a group of teens come in and all want to tell their barista their names are Batman, Superman and IronMan, we will gladly play along. We will write it on your cup and even call out, "SUPERMAN, your Vanilla Bean Frappuccino is ready! No Kryptonite!"

However, there has been a viral video that has taken the web by storm. The video, posted by the Instagram account @WorldStar, is of a customer who told the barista her name was #BlackLivesMatter in an attempt to make him shout it out across the store when the drink was finished. In this situation, everything went fine. The barista was not offended, he called it out, and the customer thanked him and went on her way.

#BlackLivesMatter ✊ #Starbucks #WSHH A video posted by WorldstarHipHop (@worldstar) on Jul 12, 2016 at 9:08pm PDT

This video, which received over 350,000 views, has inspired people to come up with their own fake names to give to their baristas.

For example, take this Facebook Post. Where customers are encouraged to tell their baristas their name is "Blue Lives Matter" so they'll be forced to yell it across the room.

Now, we are not taking any sides here. Whatever movement you choose to support, that is up to you. But #BlackLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter are both very controversial topics, in nature.

By telling your barista this is your name, is forcing them into a very awkward position, without even knowing their stance on the topic.

In a Reddit Post, posted in the Starbucks Subreddit (r/Starbucks), u/What-Size, posted this to the community, titled "I hate when people show me shit like this at the register..."

u/LadySkellerman responded:

u/FixingCarcass has also been subject to a fake name...

u/The_Overrated says, that they had one customer..

"Give 'Black Lives Matter' as her name this morning; having to write it didn't bother me, but the smug look on the girl's face annoyed the shit out of me. I'm just a random guy working at a job that I dislike for not nearly enough money - the last thing I need is someone shoe-horning an issue/cause down my throat at 6:45 in the morning. The look of disappointment when the person on bar (my Store Manager) just called her drink without her name made up for it. Her foolproof plan was foiled"

You may be thinking, "What? Why should baristas care? They're the ones who were a part of the #RaceTogether campaign where we had to talk about race with them when we didn't want too?"

For those who don't know, the #RaceTogether campaign was an initiative which aimed to spark a national conversation about race relations by having baristas write the phrase "Race Together" on Starbucks cups. Which is widely regarded as a failed campaign

Believe us when we say, a vast majority of your baristas chose not to participate in said campaign, as we knew it was not an appropriate setting to discuss such a controversial topic and did not want to force customers into a conversation without knowing any background.

So please, before you use your barista as a tool to promote your cause/issue, think of the situation that it's going to put them in. And for the sake of baristas around the world, just refrain from doing it. Unless your name is Harry Potter, then we will gladly play along.