Starbucks to
promote climate-change film

Starbucks Corp. is planning a summer publicity blitz for Arctic Tale, a movie about a walrus and a polar bear narrated by Queen Latifah, using posters and cup holders that the company hopes will educate coffee drinkers about climate crisis.

Starbucks also hopes that this time around customers will actually go see the movie.

Last year, the coffeehouse chain linked up with Hollywood to promote Akeelah and the Bee, but the feel-good movie about an inner-city girl who makes it to a national spelling bee got a lukewarm reception at the box office in spite of fun vocabulary flash cards in Starbucks shops.

Kenneth Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, said the company is planning a less subtle campaign for the Arctic Tale partnership with Paramount Classics, the Viacom Inc. studio behind Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and National Geographic Films, which produced March of the Penguins.

Starbucks will play in its stores the movie's soundtrack, which features Ben Harper, Aimee Mann, and the Shins. The company has also designated August 15 a ''National Day of Discussion,'' and plans to host in-store talks in some cities with environmental awareness groups such as Earthwatch Institute and Global Green USA.

Starbucks said all three partners benefit financially but did not release specific details of the deal. Arctic Tale is set to debut in selected theaters July 25, with a wide release planned for August 17. Seela the walrus and Nanu the polar bear will start appearing in Starbucks stores July 31. (AP)