Starbucks closed more than 2,000 stores across South Korea in the middle of the day on Monday, putting about 24,000 employees through mandatory training on historical awareness and cultural sensitivity. The unusual shutdown was reported by Maariv and came after a marketing campaign triggered a major public backlash.
The controversy centered on new thermal cups promoted under the slogan “Tank Day.” The campaign was launched close to the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Massacre, a painful episode in Korean history in which a pro-democracy protest was violently suppressed. Public reaction was immediate and severe.
Shinsegae, which holds the Starbucks franchise in South Korea, pulled the campaign, issued an apology, and fired the local Starbucks chief executive. The company later said employees had used artificial intelligence to help draft the campaign and were not aware of its sensitive historical context.
During the store closures, workers attended lectures in Seoul given by professors from Sungkyunkwan University about modern Korean history and cultural sensitivity. Professor Jungwoo Lee of Namsoul University said Starbucks was trying to show commitment to change and rebuild consumer trust after damaging the brand’s image. The case is still unfolding, and South Korean police have opened an investigation into Shinsegae executives on suspicion of defamation, harming the families of massacre victims, and violating a special law related to the May 18 democratization movement.
