As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to be amplified throughout the nation with protests and demands for systemic change and police reform, Starbucks has been slow – and quite tactlessly so – to catch on. The coffee chain conglomerate announced on Friday that it reversed a previous ban on Black Lives Matter apparel worn by employees after intense social media backlash. After saying it could “amplify divisiveness,” the company now allows employees to wear Black Lives Matter pins and its own shirts that show support for the movement.

The start of the problem came when Buzzfeed reported that the company prohibited “baristas and other employees to wear T-shirts, pins, or any other accessory that mentions Black Lives Matter.” The report surfaced just days after the coffee retailer posted on Twitter that it intends to “stand in solidarity with our Black partners, customers and communities.”

A memo sent out by the company further supported its actions, stating that Black Lives Matter gear could be “misunderstood and potentially incite violence.”

This move obviously sparked serious criticism from social media, especially on Twitter. Users showed their disapproval towards the company’s insensitivity, with many dropping the chain altogether. After a little over 24 hours of backlash, Starbucks decided to reverse the ban, allowing employees to wear clothes and accessories supporting the cause. The company said in its statement, “Wear your BLM pin or t-shirt. We are so proud of your passionate support of our common humanity.”

And with this sudden change of heart came a specially designed BLM T-shirt for its employees to wear during work if they choose to do so. Starbucks plans to produce 250,000 of these shirts to distribute among employees in North America. And if non-employees want to get their hands on the item, it’s available for $19.99 online.

Although some people showed their support towards Starbucks for correcting a mistake, others criticized the company for romanticizing a movement for publicity. Many have accused the company’s statement and subsequent T-shirt design as an obvious sign of performative allyship. Taking into account the company’s fraught history with racism, the minimal effort to showcase surface-level support for Black lives comes off more like damage control than anything else.

The T-shirt’s logo includes animated protest signs depicting BLM-related phrases like “Speak Up,” “Time for Change,” and “No Justice, No Peace.” Below this picture is the phrase, “It’s not a moment, it’s a movement.” In a new statement on Friday, the company said that they created the T-shirt “to recognize the historic significance of this time. Together, we’re saying: Black Lives Matter and it’s going to take ALL of us, working together, to affect change.”

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Black Lives Matter. We continue to listen to our partners and communities and their desire to stand for justice together. In response to this historic time, our store partners can show support with their own t-shirts, pins and name tags. To learn more, visit the link in our bio.⁣⁣ ⁣ The Starbucks Black Partner Network has also co-designed t-shirts with this graphic that will soon be sent to 250,000+ store partners.

A post shared by Starbucks Coffee ☕ (@starbucks) on Jun 12, 2020 at 6:51am PDT

In early June, the Starbucks Foundation pledged to donate $1 million to employee-nominated organizations “promoting racial equity and more inclusive and just communities.” But with the magnitude of Starbucks’s influence, on target to becoming a $28.2 billion company this year, that number could be much higher, especially when brands like Glossier and Anastasia Beauty have pledged the same amount or even more.

So, will Starbucks step up and spend the time and money to uplift the cause and support its Black employees and customers, or will this end as quickly as the damage control began?