Tag: Starbucks

I guess we will see if this apology will shutdown the controversy or not. As we all know leftists love to have something to be outraged about:

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin on Tuesday apologized to the public in person, eight days after Starbucks Korea, run by Shinsegae Group, sparked controversy with its “Tank Day” marketing event, which critics say inappropriately referenced Korea’s pro-democracy movement of the 1980s. 

“Regardless of the reason, the fact that we have hurt the hearts of our citizens carries a heavy responsibility,” Chung said during a press conference. “I will make no excuses. All responsibility for this matter lies with me. It is my fault.“ 

“Everyone at Shinsegae, including myself, will remember our society’s history and sacrifices, and always deeply understand and respect the hearts of the public. The responsibility lies with the organization and the management, including myself.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

What was Starbucks thinking with this promotion? There is no way this guy could have been this clueless. I wonder if anyone on his staff tried to warn him this was not a good idea?:

President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech during a ceremony on May 18, 2026, in Gwangju, commemorating the 1980 democratization movement in the city located some 270 kilometers south of Seoul. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

The head of Starbucks Korea was dismissed Monday after the coffee chain faced strong backlash over a promotional event that evoked painful memories of South Korea’s military rule on a pro-democracy movement anniversary, Shinsegae Group said. 

Son Jung-hyun, head of SCK Company, which operates Starbucks Korea under E-Mart, was fired hours after the coffee franchise launched its “Tank Day” online promotional event, which offered discounts on “Tank” tumbler sets along with the phrase, “Put it on the table with a sound of ‘Tak!'”

The event quickly drew criticism from civic groups and online users, who argued that the word “tank” recalled the military vehicles deployed by martial law troops during the uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju on May 18, 1980, while the phrase “tak” was seen as evoking the 1987 torture death of student activist Park Jong-chol. 

Hours later, Starbucks Korea suspended the promotional event and issued an apology to those who were involved in the nation’s democracy movement, including victims of the Gwangju uprising and the bereaved family of Park.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The use of paper straws was a bad idea from the start and it appears Starbucks Korea is trying to couse change:

Around 200 Starbucks stores in South Korea are testing out plant-based plastic straws after customers complained about the durability of the coffee chain’s paper straws. Starbucks Korea, which operates approximately 2,000 stores, on Wednesday introduced bioplastic straws made from sugarcane, a company spokeswoman said by phone Thursday.

The company received complaints — many of them from customers at branches in hospitals and family housing districts — about the durability of the paper straws, prompting Starbucks to explore other materials, the spokeswoman said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what is the most ridiculous thing about the paper straws is that depending on what you order, they serve it to you in a plastic cup with a plastic lid. If Starbucks was so concerned about the environment why didn’t they use only paper cups and biodegradable lids?

Is this the world’s most dangerous view from a Starbucks?:

Coffee drinkers can sip their beverages and view a quiet North Korean mountain village from a new Starbucks at a South Korean border observatory. Customers have to pass a military checkpoint before entering the observatory at Aegibong Peace Ecopark, which is less than a mile from North Korean territory and overlooks North Korea’s Songaksan mountain and a nearby village in Kaephung county.

The tables and windows face North Korea at the Starbucks, where about 40 people, a few of them foreigners, came to the opening Friday. The South Korean city of Gimpo said hosting Starbucks was part of efforts to develop its border facilities as a tourist destination and said the shop symbolizes “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing that South Korea has so many Starbucks stores?:

 South Korea held the fourth-largest number of Starbucks stores around the globe as of last year, data showed Monday, driven by solid demand from local consumers.

South Korea held 1,893 Starbucks stores as of 2023, up 116 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the U.S. coffee giant.

The figure falls just behind Japan’s count at 1,901, despite the Asian neighbor having a population twice the size of South Korea’s.

The Seattle-based coffee giant introduced its first store in Seoul in 1999 in partnership with Shinsegae Group, a Korean retail group.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest controversy with the cancel culture crowd, it is now controversial to be anti-communism:

There are signs of a boycott movement against Starbucks Korea sparked by Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin’s recent anti-communist remarks on social media. Shinsegae is the parent company of E-mart, which owns 67.5 percent of Starbucks Korea.

On Monday, some netizens started spreading images on various online communities calling for a boycott. 

On Jan. 6, Vice Chairman Chung had uploaded on Instagram an image of an article from Korean daily Chosun Ilbo that had a picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping and was criticizing the Korean government’s silence toward a high-level Chinese official who had referred to Korea as a “minor country.” Chung tagged the image with the hashtag, “destroycommunism” (“myeolgong” in Korean), and it set off controversy. Later that day, the vice chairman replaced the image with a photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The vice chairman has uploaded anti-communist posts on social media five times in recent months.

The incident spread to the political circle and the spokeperson for ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung subsequently tweeted that he will not drink Starbucks coffee anymore. Supporters of the DPK showed their intention to join the boycott of Shinsegae. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but maybe I missed something here; what is controversial about being anti-communist? Is it now inappropriate to be against regime’s with horrible human rights records?

This seems to be the wave of the future, cashless stores:

Starbucks Coffee Korea, the local unit of the U.S. coffee giant, said Thursday it will begin a test run of cashless stores at three outlets next month amid rising use of credit card and mobile payment systems.

The stores at the country’s major office districts — Gangnam and Guro in Seoul, and Pangyo, just south of the capital — have been tapped to start testing the new system April 23, according to the company.

When launched, it will mark the second trial for the global coffee giant, following its first cashless store under test run in Seattle, the United States, it said.

Paying with cash has been constantly declining at Starbucks stores in South Korea, from 31 percent of the total in 2010 to 15 percent in 2013 and 7 percent last year, the company said.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if this woman has mental problems because can someone really be this stupid?:

A woman was kicked out of a Starbucks in California for a racially insensitive remark to two college students speaking Korean.

South Korean international student Annie An was at a tutoring session with Sean Lee, a South Korean native and UC Berkeley student at a Starbucks in Walnut Creek, California when a patron approached them after hearing the two speak Korean.

“This is America. Use English only,” said the unnamed woman, who was sitting nearby using a laptop, according to An.

An continued to film the woman as Starbucks employees were asking her to leave, KRON reported.

“I hate it,” the woman says in the video. “If you can sit and be quiet, fine, but I don’t want to hear your language.”
Starbucks employees continue to ask the woman to leave. “They’re welcome to be here, they’re doing nothing wrong. You’re the one that’s causing an issue,” an employee tells her. “You’re gonna be in trouble when I get this letter out,” the woman responds. An employee points out that she’s just tapping numbers on the keyboard.Another employee tells her if she doesn’t leave, they will call the police. Three officers later escorted the woman out of the coffee shop. The woman continued to complain about the students speaking Korean as she was forced to leave, according to An. The video went viral and has been viewed by over a million viewers and has been shared over 5,000 times by Friday on Facebook. Many Facebook users were outraged by the woman’s comments.  [Newsweek]

You can read more at the link.