Starbucks Korea to shut stores for history lessons after ‘Tank Day’ furore
Key takeaways
- Coffee chain to hold ‘historical awareness’ training after backlash against marketing campaign that evoked 1980 military crackdown.
- The move comes after Starbucks Korea provoked a furore last month with a marketing campaign that evoked one of the most painful chapters in the country’s march to democracy.
- The coffee giant’s use of the wording “Tank Day” and “5/18” to promote a range of coffee tumblers outraged South Koreans by evoking a military crackdown on May 18, 1980, against a pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Coffee chain to hold ‘historical awareness’ training after backlash against marketing campaign that evoked 1980 military crackdown.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Activists hold placards as they take part in a rally calling for a boycott of the Starbucks coffee chain in Seoul, South Korea, on May 27, 2026 [Pedro Pardo/AFP]By John Power Published On 15 Jun 202615 Jun 2026Starbucks stores in South Korea will close early next week so employees can receive history instruction after a botched marketing campaign triggered a public backlash, the US coffee chain’s local operator says.
The move comes after Starbucks Korea provoked a furore last month with a marketing campaign that evoked one of the most painful chapters in the country’s march to democracy.