The controversy over Starbucks Korea's "May 18 Tank Day" event spread to an apology by Chung Yong-jin, Shinsegae group CEO, on the 19th (local time), following the dismissal of CEO Son Jeong-hyeon. In global markets, there have been more than a few cases where historical tragedies or memories of colonial rule were misused as marketing material. The corporations offered similar explanations such as "automation system error," "simple design inspiration," and "emphasis during translation." But they struggled to avoid blowback such as a sharp drop in sales in core markets, delisting from platforms, and the evaporation of hundreds of millions of dollars in brand value.
◇ KFC Germany's "Kristallnacht chicken" alert
KFC Germany, the U.S. fast-food chain's German unit, sent a push alert to users of its app on Nov. 9, 2022. In German, it said, "It's Kristallnacht remembrance day. Treat yourself to crispy chicken with soft cheese." Kristallnacht refers to the anti-Jewish pogrom carried out across Nazi Germany and Austria on Nov. 9–10, 1938. Ninety-one Jews were killed and 30,000 people were sent to concentration camps, which is regarded as the starting point of the Holocaust.
Users who received the alert captured the screen and posted it on social media. The Board of Deputies of British Jews criticized it as "horrible," and the International Legal Forum said it was "speechless and disgusting." KFC Germany sent a second push alert about an hour later with an apology. Parent company Yum Brands issued a separate statement apologizing for "an unscheduled, insensitive and unacceptable message." It added that it uses a semi-automated content generation system linked to a calendar of national commemorations, but "internal review procedures did not function this time." It did not turn into a long-term boycott afterward, but it remained a prime example that "automated marketing cannot replace historical sensitivity."
◇ Urban Outfitters' "Kent State sweatshirt"
U.S. apparel chain Urban Outfitters listed a Kent State Univ. sweatshirt in its online store in Sept. 2014 as a vintage collection item for $129 (about 190,000 won). The faded red garment with the Kent State lettering had red stains splattered across the shoulders and hem, with holes punctured in places.
Kent State University is where the "Kent State massacre" took place on May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed students during anti–Vietnam War protests, killing four and wounding nine. The incident remains a tragedy in the history of the U.S. antiwar movement. The red stains and holes immediately drew criticism that they "evoked gunshot wounds and bullet holes." The company posted an apology the next day, explaining that "the red stains were discoloration inherent to the fabric and the holes were natural wear," and immediately pulled the product.
But the company's explanation was not accepted. Urban Outfitters had previously sold a shirt in 2012 that evoked the yellow Star of David from Nazi concentration camps. In 2015, the year after the incident, it again drew fire for selling a garment with pink triangle stripes resembling the uniforms of imprisoned homosexuals in the camps. The Kent State incident reinforced the perception of Urban Outfitters as a "retailer that courts controversy." Another controversy erupted when it was leaked that CEO Dick Hayne defended the product in an internal email, saying "vintage buyers have provided the products consumers want."
◇ Zara's children's wear that "evoked camp uniforms"
Spanish fast-fashion brand Zara recalled an item of children's pajama tops within hours of its Aug. 27, 2014 launch. The issue was a blue-and-white horizontal striped shirt released for toddlers under age 3. A gold six-point star-shaped badge was attached to the left chest. The word "SHERIFF" was printed inside the star, but it was not clearly visible on a standard screen.
Social media users immediately said the shirt recalled the striped prison garb worn by inmates in Nazi concentration camps, and that the gold badge evoked the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear on their chests. Inditex, Zara's parent company, posted an apology in multiple languages the day of the launch, saying "the design was inspired by the sheriff's star of classic Western films," and promised to discard all units of the product. Abraham Foxman, then national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said right after the incident that "the fact that this keeps happening shows the urgent need for education about the history of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism."
Zara had also recalled a product in 2007 after it was found to bear a swastika (Nazi cross) pattern on a handbag. In 2023, it launched its ambitious "The Jacket" campaign but scrapped it after three days after a performance that evoked the funerals of victims of the Gaza Strip bombings.
◇ Dolce & Gabbana's "chopsticks ad"
Italian luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) released three promotional videos on Weibo, China's social media platform, in Nov. 2018 ahead of its Shanghai fashion show "The Great Show." The videos showed a Chinese female model in a glamorous D&G dress awkwardly eating pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks. The ad included narration that mocked the model, asking, "Aren't the chopsticks too big?"
Hundreds of Chinese models and actors scheduled to appear in the show refused en masse after the ad. Wang Junkai, a famous actor who was a brand ambassador, immediately terminated his contract. The show was canceled just hours before it was set to begin. The day after the videos were released, screenshots leaked of a private Instagram direct message in which co-founder Stefano Gabbana used five poop emojis to describe China and derided it as an "ignorant, dirty, smelly mafia country." Gabbana claimed his account was hacked, but it was not accepted.
D&G suffered a crippling blow in the Chinese market afterward. Major Chinese e-commerce platforms including Alibaba's Tmall and JD.com removed D&G products en masse. According to consultancy Brand Finance, an estimated 37.6 billion yuan (about 7.8 trillion won) in brand value evaporated in the eight days following the incident. D&G's EBITDA for fiscal 2018–2019, when the incident occurred, fell more than 40% year over year to 87.2 million euros (about 146.5 billion won). Its operating margin was cut in half, from 12.2% to 6.3%. Even eight years after the incident, D&G continues to be cited in global market risk analyses as "a representative case of failing to recover in the Chinese market."