14 DAY TRIAL // Starbucks employees are being advised to write a political message on cups, as they serve them. Apart from patrons' names, they can chose to mark the cups with the phrase “Come Together.”
Branding the cups comes as a suggestion, and not a requirement from CEO Howard Schultz. According to The Hill, this is the Starbucks' method of encouraging the Congress to “come together” as they negotiate over the “fiscal cliff.”
The message could be described as neutral and with no political ramifications, which really makes it the most PC way of meddling in politics there is.
This could be a marketing campaign, an effort to brand the company as socially aware. If it is, it's genius to have the employees handwrite the message on the cups. It creates a sense of involvement for both the consumer and the server.