Break Café has been an established coffee shop in Missoula for the past twenty years, well known for its long hours and housemade pies. On any given day, the café is filled with people of all different backgrounds: tables of seniors having deep conversations over cups of boiling hot drip, middle-age businessmen sipping cappuccinos, and what truly creates the atmosphere of Break, dozens of high school and college students working diligently on assorted homework downing any caffeinated substances that comes near them. 

Students have been a vast contributor to Break, and yearly, Break attempts to give back in a way. From Dec. 8 through the 12, free coffee is given to any students, in an attempt to alleviate the burden of stress during the University of Montana’s finals week. This is sponsored by Missoula-based company, Care Net. Care Net is a Christian based Emergency Pregnancy Center. All students who take advantage of this have their coffee put in a Care Net branded cup.  

On Dec. 7, the Instagram user ‘boycottbreak’ posted an intensive profiling of  the sponsorship, specifically that Care Net is a covet for an extreme pro-life approach to unexpected pregnancy. According to the Instagram account, Break allowing their customers to be unwillingly a part of this marketing scheme, is, “extraordinarily predatory and deceitful.” 

This longtime partnership has allegedly caused Break employees to go as far as quitting, according to the anonymous Instagram for forcing their employees to represent the cause, without their approval.  

Boycottbreak has gone as far as creating a petition on change.org, demanding that Break stops the promotion. 

Break has not made any comment on this Instagram and petition, still continuing the sponsorship by Care Net.