Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks, has defended the coffee chain’s new campaign ‘Race Together’. Schultz asked Starbucks employees to write the name of the campaign on the side of customers’ cups to start a dialogue with the customers.

Earlier, the campaign was criticized by many people. Now, it has taken on arguably the most polarizing political debate in the United States. But, Schultz has decided to defend the campaign.

The American global coffee company has also announced a new plan to begin publishing “conversation guides” for the coffee tables in retail outlets. According to the company, it wants customers to make sure that color of coffee that they have chosen remains at the forefront of their mind.

During the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting, Howard Schultz, former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics said, “When I look back at the last 23 years of our public life or Starbucks 44-year history, so much of our success is deeply rooted in the values, culture and guiding principles of who we are, who we’ve been and who we are striving to be as a company”.

Schultz further said that the long history of the company headquartered in Seattle shows that the company has always tried to build a different kind of business proposition from the very first day. Even when the company’s shares hit new all-time highs, it never lost sight of its vision. The main goal of Starbucks was to bring its people along with it on the journey, Schultz added.

According to some reports, the company’s effort lit up the social media. Several people have been criticizing the company. Corey duBrowa, the senior vice president for global communications at Starbucks, has temporarily deleted his Twitter account on Monday. Starbucks stated that it is ready to support employees who are engaged with customers on the issue.