Starbucks wants to talk about race - #NewStarbucksDrinks hijacks conversation

Starbucks are running the above ads in the New York Times and USA Today, and are encouraging their baristas to discuss race with customers by writing "race together" on the starbucks cups. It began with a candid discussion about race at an all-hands meeting at the Starbucks Support Center,explains the release, where Howard Schultz voiced his concerns with employees/partners in the company’s Seattle headquarters and started a discussion about race in America.

“we at Starbucks should be willing to talk about these issues in America," Schultz said. "Not to point fingers or to place blame, and not because we have answers, but because staying silent is not who we are."
Partners were not silent. For more than an hour, at an all-hands meeting at the Starbucks Support Center, partners representing various ages, races and ethnicities passed a microphone and shared personal stories.
“The current state of racism in our country is almost like humidity at times. You can’t see it, but you feel it,” said one partner.

no longer bring firearms when visiting the Starbucks store. Gun owners were happy to oblige and shop for their coffee elsewhere.
Will this effort of opening up about race in America work? In the currently polarized climate where everything is politicized some may find this off-putting. As John McWhorter writes in The Privilege of Checking White Privilege:

"Our country engages in an endless “conversation” about race year round, in the media, academia, and barstool talk, while schools, museums, the media, the publishing industry, and government organizations treat coverage, exploration and deploring of, as well as apology for, racism as ingrained aspects of their mission."

I guarantee a Starbucks barista will write "can I touch your hair?" on a cup. Then get a face full of that hot latte. Watch.

— NIGris Elba (@hosienation) March 17, 2015

It wasn't long until the hashtag #newstarbucksdrinks took off. Suggestions include "All Fraps Matter", "African Americano", "and Frap Queen", and "White Supremacy Mochas " (1, 2). Some more examples:

I Cant Be Racist Cuz I Have Two Black Coffees #NewStarbucksDrinks

— Dez (@dezisdope) March 17, 2015

Let My People Go Latte #NewStarbucksDrinks

— Tracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) March 17, 2015

Not All White Mochas #NewStarbucksDrinks

— brain kegels (@FemmeBrigade) March 17, 2015

One Drop Rule White Chocolate Mocha Latte #NewStarbucksDrinks

— NIGris Elba (@hosienation) March 17, 2015

So far I've seen an overwhelming amount of negative reactions to this Starbucks idea on twitter, ranging from cynical to offended.