Posting in Reddit’s “Facepalm” forum on Thursday, an anonymous poster under the name u/Revealed_Jailor shared photos of the protesters, writing: “Gluing themselves to [the] table is so brave, wow.” The post has amassed more than 33,000 upvotes and over 7,000 comments, mocking the protesters.
The photos were originally posted to PETA’s social media accounts on Wednesday. In one picture, a man wearing a shirt that reads, “Not your mom, not [your] milk,” sits atop one of the store’s counters. In another, a woman wearing a shirt that reads, “End vegan milk upcharge,” stands beside a pastry case.
From the photos, it appears each of the protesters glued themselves to their respective counters.
According to PETA’s Facebook page, the activists were protesting Starbucks’ plant-based milk upcharges.
“Save the planet. Save the cows. Stop the vegan upcharge now,” shouted the protesters in a Livestream posted to the organization’s Facebook page.
Speaking to the Washington Examiner, PETA alleged that the demonstration ended with the arrest of the two protesters.
“After spending nearly two hours superglued to the cafe counter at Starbucks’ headquarters today to make the point that the company needs to stop discouraging people from taking Earth- and animal-friendly action by charging extra for vegan milks, two PETA supporters were arrested and are being charged with two felonies each, theft of services and destruction of property,” the organization claimed.
The Guardian reported in March that Starbucks dropped the upcharge for plant-based milk across all of its U.K. stores. Customers in the U.S., however, still have to pay a 70-cent upcharge for their milk alternative of choice, according to Insider.
“While there’s no single factor in pricing decisions we expect costs to come down as the supply chain for plant-based options matures,” former Starbucks COO Roz Brewer said of the charges in 2020.
In a media release updated on Wednesday, PETA stated that it intends to keep protesting these charges until they are eliminated.
“Until Starbucks stops charging extra for non-dairy milk, PETA will continue brewing up pressure for the company by hosting passionate demonstrations, pushing an intense social media campaign to our millions of followers, and urging its customers to ditch dairy,” the organization wrote.
Many Redditors were confused by Wednesday’s demonstration, so they poked fun at it.
“I’m surprised ‘Super Glue’ & ‘Coffe shops’ made it past the first stage of the brainstorming session,” wrote u/BillyTheSaint.
“How effective do they think this is? I build a lot of models, so I frequently glue myself to all kinds of things. This isn’t gonna do s**t,” said u/ThePopeJones.
“Freely superglued themselves to the table, Starbucks is surely under no obligation to feed and water them. Shut the store for refurbishment, give it a couple of weeks and they should be easy to remove,” added u/Drumtochty_Lassitude.
Oddly enough, these activists aren’t the first to use superglue during a protest. On April 12, another animal rights activist glued her hand to the Minnesota Timberwolves court to protest the team’s owner, who owns an egg factory farm in Iowa.
In September, a group superglued themselves to a London highway as part of an environmental protest. And in 2019, an 83-year-old man glued himself to a train during an Extinction Rebellion protest.
