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Comment by ben_jones | Hacker News Reader

Are there any ways to tell if a corporation actually gives a damn or is just pretending for PR or other selfish purposes?

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I have kneejerk reactions sometimes to actions like this, thinking "oh they're just doing this for the PR", but I've recently start to consider what would it take for me not to have this reaction -- and I realized that I would likely have that just-for-pr reaction to any action they took, and I'm likely entirely too cynical.

Closing 8,000+ stores for an afternoon feels like a sizable response, and I am going to suspend my cynicism for this and recognize that they do give a damn (even if it is influenced by PR).

Not the first time they've done something like this: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/business/27sbux.html

I doubt it will be for a whole afternoon. My bet is on a "webinar" mode: 1-2hrs closure, with with something like: 20min intro; 20min talking head video; 20min "any questions?" They'll make new employees watch it and they'll post it on the corporate website ("make available").

I attribute these sorts of things to companies doing what they are designed to do; make money. The goal of this move, like most others by similar companies, is to either make more money now, make more money in the future, or minimize any future monetary losses. Not being hated by the public just happens to facilitate the aforementioned primary goal.

I think those who run starbucks...are very astute to their 'crowd' ... and I think a lot of liberals/progressives go to starbucks. (I'm a progressive / Voted for Bernie). I think this is in part to save face and help with PR, but I think there really might be some people high up in Starbucks who truly do care.. either way though they do seem to run things more ethically than a lot of companies regardless of the motive. In the end does it really matter why someone does something or just that they do it?

Sure, wait a month then go to a starbucks store and peacefully and politely hang out for a few hours without purchasing anything. If nothing happens up till then, try to use the restroom too. Then hang out some more before leaving.

If you don't spend the night in jail, then you have one data point suggesting not PR.

Have a reasonable sample of people repeat the experiment in multiple locations and multiple times and carefully record and report the results to you.

Collate the data points and report on the number of people arrested during the experiment.

Feel free to include Starbucks in a tweet about your results when you publish.

If nothing happens up till then, try to use the restroom too. Then hang out some more before leaving.

This whole thing is going to have huge variation between locations. Suburban or drive - to locations often don't ever lock the bathrooms, while ones in cities are more likely to.

As an additional data point, SBUX FY 2017 revenue was 22.3 bil. Works out to almost 80 mil per day. The US has about half of their stores, but potentially a larger share of revenues. So this is costing them roughly 50 mil in lost revenue.

The question is are they making a real sacrifice at that amount or paying a small sum for the PR?

The fact that they're doing it all on one day at the same time implies it's mostly about the PR

How did you come to that conclusion? I am unsure about your line of logic here.

Why would they shut down all their locations at once, losing hundreds of thousands in income, if not for the media and social attention it would receive?

Simply put, why close business when these trainings can be done staggered or off store hours? That's my line of thinking.

Or it's simply easier to coordinate that way. Plus it makes it obvious whether a franchise/branch isn't complying with the closing.

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