Starbucks Shows You What's In A Name With Powerful Commercial

This new ad from Starbucks is really showing the courage it takes to become your own person, no matter what body you born into. The ad uses the signature customization that Starbucks applies to every purchased beverage, the name of the customer handwritten by the barista onto the customer's cup.

We follow the day in the life of a young trans man who keeps getting identified as his female name, Gemma- by his dad, by the doctor's office, etc. It seems like a trip where the the name Gemma signifies a person that he isn't any longer. Take a look at how Starbucks puts value to what seems like a simple gesture by a typical friendly barista during a typical visit.

This commercial is a part of a bigger campaign that Starbucks is doing in the UK with a mission to "inspire and nurture the human spirit; one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time."

The #whatsyourname campaign brings to light the love, inclusion, appreciation and respect that acknowledging and giving the extra effort of taking a Starbucks' visitors name, writing it on a cup and announcing it out loud can do.

Here's more about the campaign from the Starbucks campaign webpage:

"Starbucks #whatsyourname campaign celebrates this signature act and the significance it can have for some transgender and gender diverse people as they use their new name in public. The advert, created in partnership with creative agency Iris, was inspired by real life experiences of people who were transitioning. We discovered that they found Starbucks stores to be a safe space, where their new name was accepted, and they could be recognised as who they are."

In addition to bringing trans peoples' experiences to the forefront, Starbucks also partnered with a charity to help with support services within the transgender community to raise money for a helpline. Also, the campaign includes real stories from trans people talking about the importance of their names: