April 2018
A Starbucks barista called the police on two young Black men sitting at the Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia location while they waited for a business contact to arrive for a meeting. When the police arrived, they removed and arrested the two men — who committed no crime — drawing immediate outrage. Attorney Lauren Wimmer, providing pro bono counsel to the two men arrested, enlisted Owen Murphy to drive a coordinated pressure campaign against Starbucks for its unjustified actions and secure national media coverage.
Represented Attorney Wimmer, positioning her as the authoritative voice for national media.
Engineered a sustained pressure campaign highlighting the poor handling of the situation and targeted Starbucks' reputational consequences.
Media-trained Wimmer and constructed key messages for high-stakes national interviews.
Secured interviews with national outlets including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
Forced to act, Starbucks — for the first time in company history — closed more than 8,000 U.S. locations to conduct racial-bias education. Beyond extensive national news coverage, Wimmer experienced a significant increase in awareness, web traffic, and criminal defense inquiries.