Starbucks is supposed to be the place that “content creators” go to hog table space and spend hours working on that novel/screenplay/memoir that they know is inside them. Apparently the coffee chain has also been bitten by the content-creating bug, as it plans to launch a new online documentary series.

Starbucks announced Wednesday that it would release a 10-video “docu-series” called Upstanders to tell the stories of how ordinary citizens — and Starbucks customers, perhaps? — made an impact in their communities in video, written, or podcast form.

The content, which will be available on Starbuck’s mobile app, website, and in-store digital network, was written and produced by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and executive producer Rajiv Chandrasekaran.

Schultz said in a statement on Wednesday that the idea came about as the company explored how it could use its clout to spur “hope in a time when we need more optimism, empathy, compassion, and leadership.”

“We have always been storytellers at heart, and more of these stories need to be heard. We are using our scale to share them as broadly as possible,” he said.

The series includes stories ranging from a city in Michigan that banded together to provide scholarships for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend college to the man in Utah that helped reduce homelessness by 91%.

 

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