Patricio Robles says, “Starbucks is one of the brands that isn’t afraid to get political in an increasingly polarized world.

Its most recent political statement: it announced plans to hire 10,000 refugees following US President Donald Trump’s enactment of a temporary travel ban targeting individuals from a number of predominantly Muslim countries.

The announcement, which was written by Starbucks’ founder Howard Schultz and also came with statements about the American Dream “being called into question,” sparked calls for a Starbucks boycott, and #BoycottStarbucks became a trending topic on Twitter. At the same time, Starbucks also found itself receiving calls of support for standing up for its beliefs.

So what was the cost or benefit of its announcement? As it turns out, answering that question with any level of confidence is really, really difficult.

According to the YouGov BrandIndex, which “tracks public perception of thousands of brands across the world every day,” Starbucks’ reputation took a big hit following its announcement”.

Sentiment analysis: How consumers feel depends on who you ask

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