Starbucks Sent Real Assistants to ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Premiere—in Costume

The devil works hard—but Starbucks assistants and interns, apparently, work harder. On Monday, the coffee brand sent four of its real junior employees to attend the New York City premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2 decked out in green cupholder costumes.

The stunt was tied to a global marketing campaign Starbucks is currently running in collaboration with 20th Century Studios’ highly-anticipated The Devil Wears Prada sequel, which comes out in theaters on May 1.

In the original film, Anne Hathaway’s character Andy Sachs makes several Starbucks runs for her nightmarish boss, Miranda Priestly, the ruthless editor-in-chief of fictional fashion publication Runway magazine, played by Meryl Streep. The sequel also features Starbucks, according to a press release by the coffee brandso it was only natural for the company to lean into the movie in a big way.

Sports media assistant Isabella D’Ambra, celebrity assistant Darnell Appling, social media intern Jestine Polanco, and personal assistant Victoria Hiegel participated in the marketing stunt, according to a Starbucks Instagram post.

The assistants and intern first took to the streets of New York City in costume, handing out Starbucks gift cards encased in coffee cups labeled with the names of The Devil Wears Prada characters, per the Instagram post. Then, they attended the premiere wearing stylish formal outfits under the green coats.

Reaction to the Starbucks stunt

Some customers praised the stunt in the comments of Starbucks’ Instagram post: “I could not love this more,” one user wrote.

But when The Mail Cart, an entertainment industry newsletter, posted about it on Instagrampeople pointed out that it seemed embarrassing to wear the cup costumes to a red carpet. “A movie about fashion… and this is what they made them wear?” one user joked, with another commenting, “This is a humiliation ritual.” Others criticized the company for its approach to employees’ unionization efforts.