Starbucks Korea Faces Backlash in South Korea Over Tank Day Promo

• Starbucks Korea’s promotion of its “Tank Day” event at a store in South Korea has been criticized online, with users calling it inappropriate, citing the company’s marketing campaign.
• Starbucks Korea launched a promotion featuring the “Tank Day” name to coincide with the 1980 anniversary of the massacre in Gwangju, South Korea, which involved the use of military tanks.
• After scanning the Starbucks Korea website, investigators found that Shinsegae Group, which operates Starbucks in South Korea, had blocked the event’s page; meanwhile, the store’s cups remained available for purchase.

Starbucks Korea’s marketing campaign in South Korea drew criticism after the company advertised its “Tank Day” event, linking it to the anniversary of the Gwangju massacre. BBC and CNN reported on the issue.

Starbucks Korea promoted the event using the “Tank Day” name to mark the 1980 anniversary of the massacre in Gwangju, South Korea, which, according to the organizers, involved tanks. The BBC noted that the phrase “tank on the table!” appeared on the company’s website, while the audio used above the phrase was a recording of a student’s death from 1987. The president of Starbucks Korea, Lee Jae-moon, said the company was not trying to offend anyone.

Starbucks Korea said the campaign was not intended to cause offense. After a public backlash, Shinsegae Group, which runs Starbucks in South Korea, said it would review the internal process for future promotions and that it had not planned to link the event to the massacre. It also said it would remove the event page.

According to BBC, the company’s marketing campaign used the phrase “tank on the table!”, which, the outlet said, is associated with a recording of a student’s death from 1987. The president of Starbucks Korea, Lee Jae-moon, said the company was not trying to offend anyone.

Separately, CNN reported that the company’s cups had been sold with the “Tank Day” branding, which the outlet said was linked to the Liberation Day theme. The campaign was later withdrawn.

After BBC and CNN published their findings, Shinsegae Group said it had apologized for selling Starbucks cups with the “Tank Day” branding, which it said were similar to the wording used in the audio recording.

Tags: Middle East/Politics/Culture