The chief executive of Starbucks Korea has been dismissed following a campaign widely perceived as referencing a bloody historical incident. The ‘Tank Day’ coffee tumbler promotion, launched on Monday, the anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising crackdown, sparked widespread calls for a boycott of Starbucks Korea and drew a harsh rebuke from President Lee Jae Myung.
Many interpreted the ‘tank’ motif as a direct reference to the military vehicles deployed by the government in May 1980 to suppress pro-democracy protesters. Hours after its launch, Starbucks Korea swiftly rolled back the promotion. Shinsegae, the conglomerate holding the majority stake in the coffee chain, issued an apology for ‘inappropriate marketing’ and subsequently fired the chain’s chief executive, Sohn Jeong-hyun.
The promotion, which notably used the English words ‘Tank Day’, was for their ‘Tank Series’ drink tumblers, advertised for their ‘spacious volume’ for a large amount of coffee. Local reports indicated that Starbucks Korea initially clarified the ‘Tank Series’ was one of several tumbler series being introduced as part of a campaign running from May 15 to 26.
In a statement, the company expressed, ‘We sincerely apologise for causing inconvenience and concern to our customers due to this.’ It added, ‘We have immediately suspended the event and will review and improve our internal processes to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future.’ Starbucks’ headquarters in the US also issued an apology, acknowledging that ‘while unintentional, [the incident] should never have happened’ and recognizing ‘the deep pain and offense this has caused, particularly to those who honor the victims, their families, and all who contributed to Korea’s democratisation.’
Public outrage quickly spread on social media, with an X user writing, ‘I can’t believe they thought they could pull off something like this and people would just let it slide… it’s utterly absurd and infuriating.’ Calls to boycott both Starbucks Korea and Shinsegae intensified online.
South Korea’s president was among the prominent critics, stating the campaign ‘insults the victims and the bloody struggle’ of the residents of Gwangju. President Lee Jae Myung further expressed his outrage, questioning, ‘What on earth were they thinking, knowing how many lives were taken that day and how seriously that set back our country’s justice and history?’ He condemned such ‘low-class merchant’s inhumane behaviour, which denies our country’s values of basic human rights and democracy.’
Reports estimate that hundreds of demonstrators were killed in Gwangju on May 18, 1980. Subsequent investigations confirmed that troops deployed by the military regime of Chun Doo-hwan committed rape and sexual assault. Since then, May 18 has been frequently depicted in media as a day of national trauma for South Korea and is annually commemorated as a sacred day of democracy. The Gwangju Uprising is widely recognized for setting South Korea on its path toward democracy, becoming a rallying cry for activists and culminating in a movement in June 1987 that toppled Chun’s regime.
Some in South Korea also suggest the Starbucks Korea campaign referenced the 1987 pro-democracy movement. Promotional material for the tumbler used the Korean phrase ‘tak on the table!’, employing a word that sounds like an object being slapped on a table. ‘Tak’ was also the word used in a controversial police statement in 1987 regarding the death of a student activist in custody. Police had claimed the activist collapsed and died after an interrogator slapped the table forcefully, when in fact, the activist died after being tortured.
Shinsegae’s group chairman, Chung Yong-jin, described the Starbucks campaign as ‘an inexcusable mistake that trivialised the suffering and sacrifices of all those who have dedicated themselves to the democracy of this country.’ In a statement on Tuesday, he pledged to ‘throughly investigate’ the approval procedures behind the event and ‘re-examine the review process’ for marketing content across all its affiliates.
It’s important to note that Starbucks Coffee Company, headquartered in the US, no longer has any involvement in Starbucks’ operations in South Korea since selling off its stakes in July 2021. Shinsegae’s subsidiary E-mart owns a 67.5% controlling stake in Starbucks Korea, with the remaining share held by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
#StarbucksKorea #TankDayControversy #GwangjuUprising #SouthKorea #CorporateResponsibility #Shinsegae #DemocracyMovement #SohnJeonghyun #MarketingBlunder #BoycottStarbucks
Leave a Reply