The mission statement of the brand it’s “one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time”, this shows how deep goes the commitment with all their initiatives whit their communities. Besides that, having your name written on a Starbucks cup without being asked any further questions is more than a company policy: it’s a real statement of acceptance with everyone who walks into their stores. Unfortunately, this acceptance is not something that transgender people can experience outside our stores in Brazil. So, on the International Transgender Day of Visibility, we were invited to create a campaign that, besides carrying these brand purposes to celebrate the date, also increases its commitment with the community.

Brazil has the largest transgender population in the world. But still, it's the country that leads the higher number of violence and prejudice against them.

And, for someone who has changed your body and gender, changing your name is a crucial step for living. But, the name change process within most of the notary offices is very harmful, filled with bureaucracy and not welcoming for them. All these blockades make the changing name process in your legal documents becomes a big problem when it’s time to find a job, see a doctor, go to college, among many others. Which eventually leads to several social and psychological impacts.

The fact that the name change path is hard, expensive and full of prejudice makes the process harmful and not welcoming for the transgender community. That’s why we’ve decided to bring and conduct the process in a place where their names are always welcome and never questioned: in a Starbucks Store. We've transformed an entire store into a complete Register office so that they could get their names legally changed, free of charge and with the full support they deserve. From now on, their names will not only be written on our cups but also in their documents.

We’ve invited NGOs, transgender influencers, transgender Starbucks employees and other players in the trans community to spread the news that Starbucks was willing to help anyone who wanted to change their legal names. Together with the Cerqueira César Register office, we’ve planned the entire operation to bring all necessary infrastructure to adjust the store. .

After having all the supporters on board and with the help of Cerqueira César Register Office, we were ready. On the International Transgender Day of Visibility, we entirely transformed the store with all the necessary infrastructure to conduct the whole process. Hosts, attendants, clerks and Starbucks employees were involved doing a whole lot of things such as greeting the participants, offering them coffee, giving legal advice, hearing their stories and of course, conducting the legal process.

After all this, we created a unique box to deliver the new document containing a cup with their names written on it and a Starbucks card loaded with R$500.

Showing that a true commitment was possible, the bonds between the LGBTQI+ community and the brand have become even stronger. As a result, the number of requests for the name change was bigger than expected - being 7 times higher than the annual average of São Paulo, all of that in a single day. The interactions on social media were greater than usual, enhancing the project reach and impact. In the end, the initiative had such a good response that it became an annual program at Starbucks. From now on, every January 29th, Starbucks will be serving and helping those who want to change their legal names.