Starbucks Korea Removes 5 Staff Over 'Tank Day' Ad as 2nd Apology Fails to Quell Backlash
Updated
Updated · NBC News · May 26
Starbucks Korea Removes 5 Staff Over 'Tank Day' Ad as 2nd Apology Fails to Quell Backlash
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · May 26
Summary
Five employees tied to Starbucks Korea’s “Tank Day” promotion were removed as Shinsegae said three refused to hand over mobile phones in an internal probe.
May 18 marketing for a “tank” tumbler and the slogan “Thwack it on the table” were seen as invoking the 1980 Gwangju massacre and a 1987 torture-death cover-up.
Chung Yong-jin bowed in a second apology in two weeks after Starbucks Korea’s CEO was fired, but the Democratic Party said the gesture was necessary yet insufficient.
Boycott calls have spread from victims’ families to officials and President Lee Jae Myung, while police investigate complaints tied to the Gwangju killings.
The dispute has become a wider warning for global brands in South Korea, where historical memory and next month’s local elections have sharpened scrutiny.