A Starbucks ad campaign meant to sell oversized tumblers became one of South Korea's most politically toxic corporate scandals in years. A marketing gimmick invoking 'Tank Day' on 18 May collided head-on with one of the country's darkest democratic traumas, forcing executives into repeated public apologies and fuelling calls for a boycott.
On Tuesday, Shinsegae Group chairman Chung Yong-jin bowed repeatedly during a televised statement as public anger continued to spread across South Korea. His apology marked the second formal expression of remorse in less than two weeks over a campaign critics say trivialised the 1980 Gwangju massacre, where military forces crushed a pro-democracy uprising with extraordinary violence.
