Starbucks' New Sleeves Celebrate A Great Cause

If you stopped by Starbucks this morning, your morning cup of coffee may have come with a brand-new sleeve. But if the patterned addition evaded you, we wouldn't be surprised, because the coffee chain's latest release is a camouflage-print sleeve that celebrates its initiative to hire veterans and military spouses.

Grub Street reports that the sleeves debuted today and read, "10,000 veterans and military spouses hired. And counting."

Upon closer inspection, caffeine-addled Starbucks fans will notice that the camo splotches aren't the usual camo. Instead, they're abstracted coffee bean shapes done up in neutral olives, browns, and greens to mimic the classic military pattern.

Carole Guizzetti, creative manager of Starbucks' brand and advertising team, explained that the print is actually by artist Meghan Moser, whose father is an ex-Navy SEAL. The sleeves are a small part of Starbucks' commitment to hiring vets and helping them integrate back into civilian life. Being a barista allows them to interact with people and become a part of their communities, which can sometimes be difficult.

"With the cup sleeve, it was a two-fold message. We really wanted to let people know that we met our goal to create 10,000 jobs for veterans and military spouses by 2018, and that we've renewed that commitment by adding 15,000 more by 2025," Guizzetti said. "But the second fold is why do we do that, and the short answer is because they make us better."

Grub Street adds that Starbucks currently has "hired more than 10,000 veterans and veterans' spouses since 2013" with plans to up that number by 15,000 before 2025. In addition to the sleeves, Starbucks is hoping to get more conversations started between its customers and veterans in general. To that point, the coffee giant released a video encouraging everyone to get to know a vet a little better.

"What we can uniquely do at Starbucks is host conversations," Virginia Tenpenny, vice president of Global Social Impact at Starbucks, said of setting the stage for those meetings. "We are a venue to connect people."