Starbucks Korea to temporarily shut all stores for history lesson after bungled coffee promotion
Summary
Starbucks Korea will close over 2,000 stores for a half-day on June 22 so staff can take history lessons and training about social sensitivity. This follows a marketing mistake that upset many people by coinciding with a tragic event in South Korea’s history, causing protests and store boycotts.Key Facts
- Starbucks Korea’s stores will close at 3 pm on June 22 for staff to watch recorded lessons on modern Korean history and social sensitivity training.
- The shutdown is expected to cost about 2.1 billion won (around $1.4 million) in lost sales.
- The training will also be taken by Shinsegae Group executives, the company that runs Starbucks Korea under license.
- The marketing error happened on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju massacre, a painful event where many pro-democracy protesters were killed.
- Starbucks ran a “Tank Day” promotion using the slogan “thwack on the desk,” which linked to a historic police torture case.
- The campaign was created with help from an AI tool, but some managers did not review the materials carefully before approval.
- After strong backlash, Starbucks quickly ended the campaign, and the CEO was fired the same day.
- Starbucks and its executives have apologized publicly, and an internal investigation found no deliberate wrongdoing, though police are still investigating.
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