South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Starbucks Korea as part of an investigation into a marketing campaign. The campaign is accused of trivialising the country’s 1980s pro-democracy movement.
Investigators searched the building in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday. South Korean media also reported that officers searched the homes of Starbucks Korea executives.
The coffee chain launched a range of stainless-steel reusable tumblers called “SS Tank” and declared 18 May “Tank Day”. This date marks the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, when pro-democracy demonstrators were suppressed by the then military-backed government.
The campaign also used the slogan “Thwack it on the table!”. Many interpreted this as a reference to a 1987 police claim that student activist Park Jong-chul died after investigators “hit the desk with a thwack”. Authorities had falsely used this phrase to conceal that Park died by torture.
The backlash led Shinsegae Group, which owns 67.5% of Starbucks Korea, to cancel the promotion and dismiss the company’s chief executive. The Shinsegae chair, Chung Yong-jin, later issued a televised apology. Starbucks Korea closed all its stores nationwide on 22 June for mandatory history and social awareness training.
The police investigation was launched after complaints from relatives of victims of the Gwangju crackdown, in which official records state about 200 people were killed.