<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/06/starbucks-south-korea-tank-day-promotion-blunder>
"It was a PR nightmare: customers smashing Starbucks branded tumblers and mugs
as fans deleted loyalty apps and cashed out prepaid balances. Amid the uproar,
government ministries cut ties with the coffee chain and apology notices were
pasted on Starbucks stores across South Korea.
The initial shock may have passed, but the anger remains.
Hours after launching a marketing campaign called “Tank Day” for its new “Tank”
coffee tumbler range on 18 May, Starbucks Korea found itself at the centre of a
cultural storm that would force a billionaire chairman to apologise on national
television, and see a chief executive sacked. The controversy reverberated all
the way to the South Korean president’s office.
Starbucks’ Tank Series tumblers and discount campaign was designed to promote
“spacious volume” for bigger coffees. But the specific date of the promotion’s
launch, and its imagery and wording, reopened the painful wounds of a
46-year-old massacre in South Korea and dictatorship-era torture scandal.
Starbucks cancelled the promotion hours after it launched, and its CEO, Son
Jeong-hyun, was fired that same day. But it was too late. The anger had already
spread, with videos of people smashing the Starbucks mugs and tumblers
circulated on social media.
Protests were held outside stores and people were incensed Starbucks had
launched a tumbler called “tank” on 18 May, and that the coffee chain was
declaring it “Tank Day”.
Known locally as 5/18, the 18th of May is the anniversary of a 1980 massacre in
Gwangju. Over 10 violent days, paratroopers crushed pro-democracy protests
against military strongman Chun Doo-hwan. Victims’ groups say hundreds were
killed.
There was also a problem with a slogan the Starbuck campaign used: “thwack on
the desk”. It echoed a notorious cover story used by police after the 1987
torture death of student activist Park Jong-chul. Authorities at the time
initially claimed Park died because an officer had used his fist to “hit the
desk with a thwack”.
Marketers chose the slogan after consulting an AI tool, looking for
suggestions, Shinsegae Group said. It turned out some managers who approved the
campaign never opened the email attachments showing the marketing material.
In a statement issued before his dismissal, Son apologised and pledged
company-wide education on historical awareness and ethics."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
