Police Raid Starbucks Korea Over Controversial Marketing Campaign

In Seoul, South Korea, police raided the headquarters of Starbucks’s local operation as part of an investigation into a controversial marketing campaign seen as defamatory to pro-democracy movements from the 1980s. Officials searched the Starbucks headquarters in southern Seoul on Tuesday, as reported by the police on Wednesday. Although police have not disclosed further details, South Korean media reported visits to the homes of Starbucks executives as well.

The coffee chain faced public outrage when it attempted to promote a series of stainless steel thermos cups called “SS Tank,” declaring May 18 as “Tank Day.” This date coincides with the anniversary of a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju, which was violently suppressed by the then military-backed rulers in South Korea. The campaign slogan, “Hit it on the table!” was widely interpreted as alluding to a notorious 1987 police statement that tried to cover up the death of student activist Park Jong-chol, who was falsely claimed to have died when investigators “hit the desk with a dry blow.”

The public outcry led Shinsegae Group, holding a 67.5% stake in Starbucks Korea, to cancel the campaign within hours, and it dismissed the general manager of Starbucks Korea. Shinsegae President Chung Yong-jin later broadcasted an apology. On June 22, Starbucks Korea closed all its stores nationwide early for a mandatory training session on history and social sensitivity.

The police investigation began after complaints from the families of victims of the Gwangju crackdown, which official records show left around 200 dead. South Korea achieved a genuine democracy in 1987 when then-authoritarian President Chun Doo-hwan, who led the Gwangju suppression, was pressured to accept a constitutional revision allowing direct presidential elections in response to mass pro-democracy protests.