Starbucks faces South Korean backlash following campaign echoing 1987 massacre

It's a scandal that just won't go away for Starbucks in South Korea. The chairman of the coffee chain's local corporate majority owner was compelled to issue a second public apology in the wake of the company's disastrous "Tank Day" promotion launched earlier this month. Many Koreans saw the campaign's name as a reference to a deadly 1980 crackdown in which hundreds of pro-democracy protesters were killed by the country's military dictatorship. The campaign was quickly scrapped, but it hasn't quelled public furor.
2026-05-26 14:19:05