It's offensive: Starbucks customer slams 'illegal' joke on cup

UPDATED: Jun 30, 2025 01:04 IST

A visit to a North Texas Starbucks turned into a moment of shock and hurt for Blanca Lopez, a Hispanic woman who says a racially insensitive joke written on her coffee cup left her feeling singled out and insulted.

Lopez had gone to the Starbucks in Irving on Monday with her two daughters, who had received gift cards from school. After ordering a horchata latte, one of her daughters noticed a handwritten note on the lid of her cup that read: "What do you call a sick eagle? Illegal."

Lopez, an immigrant, said the message felt deeply personal. It just didn’t feel like a joke. It felt like I was being called out for who I am," she told CBS Texas. Having experienced the deportation of friends and family, Lopez said the note triggered painful emotions. "For me, it was offensive," she said.

Lopez immediately reported it to a store manager after seeing the message. "I showed them the cup, and they said, 'Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I apologize, and I'm going to talk to the team so they don't do it again,'" she recalled. Despite this, Lopez is still waiting for an official response from Starbucks.

She kept the cup as evidence and said she was hoping for more than just an apology. ""I work as a manager. If someone on my team did something like that, I would fire her immediately," Lopez stated.

As reported by CBS news, Carlos Quintanilla of Accion America announced a protest outside the store on Saturday. He condemned the incident, saying, "It's not just inappropriate, it's disturbing," Quintanilla said. "Especially right now, when the narrative is being thrown out in the mass media is if you're illegal, you're a criminal, and if you're a criminal, you're illegal."

Starbucks stated that it is conducting an internal investigation and reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy against discrimination.

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