Starbucks Boycotts Spread like Wildfire

There has been a protest against Starbucks in South Korea due to glorifying a military coup by former President Chun Doo-Hwan known as Tank Day. Retail conglomerate in Seoul, Shingsegae, that runs Starbucks in South Korea tried to celebrate the tragic event in a promotional campaign. 

Starbucks titled the campaign “Tank Day” and used the slogan “Tak! on the Desk.” President Lee Jay Myung called Starbucks` promotional campaign inhumane and was reckless behavior by low class merchants. 

After this campaign, sales had dropped as the Starbucks sales promotion attempts were met with a strong boycott movement. The Chairman of Shingsegae Chung Yong-Jin apologized and removed their president and their Chief Executive Officer was fired. 

In addition, Starbucks America had also expressed their apologies as well calling the campaign “unacceptable.” Starbucks U.S has not made a statement after many attempts to get in contact with them. 

Even after apology efforts by the company, South Koreans are still continuing to boycott Starbucks. They have always been critical about Starbucks expansion of their shops and high prices making domestic coffee brands go extinct. 

According to The Korea Herald reports, “Social media posts showing people destroying Starbucks Korea mugs and tumblers have been spreading online, with some users tagging friends and urging them to join the boycott,.” 

Kyeyoung Park, professor and endowed chair of the Korean-American Studies of University of California Los Angeles said that Starbucks should have been more conscious of their marketing decisions. 

“For many people, this campaign may be perceived in a way similar to displaying the Confederate flag in the United States,” Park said. “I can understand why some consumers would choose to boycott Starbucks in response.”

In addition, Park was concerned that this was a political statement due to the rise of conservatism or the right wing in South Korea. 

“Given the widely discussed association of Starbucks Korea’s leadership with the New Right, many people view this marketing campaign not simply as a commercial decision but also through a political lens,” said Park. 

South Korea has the third largest number of Starbucks cafes with prices being expensive as they are the largest market outside the US and China. Supermarket chain from Shinsegae, Emart owns a 67.5% stake while a sovereign wealth fund GIC by Singapore owns a remainder. 

Politicians such as Interior Minister Yun Ho-Jung have vowed to avoid using Starbucks at public events. He expressed that companies should not use history and values of democracy to exploit them for commercial purposes. 

Furthermore, the Democratic Party with leader Rep. Jung Chung-rae has urged staff and party members to stop using Starbucks products. Candidate for the mayor of Seoul Chong Won-o and Gyeonggi gubernatorial candidate Choo Mi-ae have also advised their staff members to avoid using Starbucks. 

Chairman of the People`s Power Party Rep. Jang Dong-Hyeok expressed how Starbucks deserved the criticism for their marketing campaign by using traumatic events but also argued that the boycott should remain an issue for consumers. 

During the former President`s military coup in May of 1980, hundreds of students and citizens were trampled under tanks in the military revolt in Gwangju. The students were doing pro-democracy demonstrations which led the South Korean government at the time. About 165 civilians were killed and 65 were recorded missing from that day.