SEATTLE – While lawmakers remain locked in gridlock, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is offering an incentive to customers to set an example of how to connect with one another. Accordingly, as of yesterday and continuing until tomorrow, the chain will give away a free small coffee to any customer in the U.S. who purchases another person a beverage at Starbucks, USA Today reports.

The offer is a way to help fellow citizens "support and connect with one another, even as we wait for our elected officials to do the same for our country," wrote Schultz in a memo to staff earlier this week.

"In times like these, a small act of generosity and civility can make a big difference," the company wrote in ads published earlier this week in The New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today. "Let's see what can happen. #payitforward."

Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at The NPD Group, said the campaign likely won’t have much political effect, though it makes for effective marketing.

"Will it work on the political level? No. Won't make a dent. Will it work on the commercial end? Absolutely," he said.