Starbucks Korea boss apologises after advert sparks big backlash

A billionaire whose company runs Starbucks in South Korea has publicly apologised for a controversial marketing campaign.

The coffee chain had run adverts that appeared to reference a brutal massacre of pro-democracy protesters.

Starbucks Korea was promoting a new range of coffee tumblers in an event called "Tank Day" on 18 May.

But this is also the anniversary of the student-led Gwangju Uprising in 1980, during which hundreds of people are feared to have died when troops and tanks were deployed to crack down on demonstrations.

The company has faced a fierce backlash over the past week, with the country's president saying he was "enraged".

Some consumers are now boycotting the chain, with others smashing tumblers and setting Starbucks logos on fire outside stores.

Shares in Shinsegae - which owns a majority stake in Starbucks Korea - fell on Tuesday after the company's chairman, Chung Yong-jin, publicly apologised for "inappropriate marketing" that "hurt and angered many people".

Mr Chung confirmed that the company has suffered a "very significant" drop in sales, but has asked people not to take out their anger on his employees.

The campaign was also criticised for using the slogan "thwack it on the table" - which was widely seen as a reference to a 1987 police statement that attempted to cover up the torture and death of Park Jong-chol, a student activist that law enforcement claimed had died suddenly after investigators "hit the desk with a thwack".

Starbucks Korea cancelled the promotion within hours and issued an apology, insisting it had not intended to cause offence.

Following the backlash, Shinsegae fired the head of Starbucks Korea, while Starbucks Global has also apologised and said an investigation is under way.

Starbucks was South Korea's biggest food and beverage chain in the six months to February.

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In a social media post, President Lee Jae Myung said he was "enraged" by the campaign, calling it "inhumane and disgraceful behaviour by cheap profiteers" that "tarnished the bloody protests of Gwangju citizens and the victims of the protests".

Meanwhile, South Korea's interior ministry vowed to stop offering products from companies that "make light" of the country's democratic history, with interior minister Yun Ho-jung accusing Starbucks Korea of "anti-historical conduct".

The Gwangju-Jeonnam Memorial Coalition condemned the marketing as "clearly malicious mockery", adding: "We strongly suspect this is the result of management's biased historical consciousness ... being cunningly expressed through the mask of marketing."

(c) Sky News 2026: Starbucks Korea boss apologises after advert sparks big backlash