As the controversy over Starbucks Korea's "Tank Day" marketing has led to the dismissal of its CEO, caution over "marketing risk" is growing across the retail industry. With marketing that leverages online memes and community expressions continuing to increase, cases keep recurring in which a short phrase or a single photo ties into political, historical, or gender conflicts and deals a fatal blow to a company's image.
According to the retail industry on the 21st, Starbucks Korea ran a promotion on the 18th, the anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement, using phrases such as "Knock on the desk!" and "5.18 Tank Day," and is facing fierce criticism. President Lee Jae-myung strongly criticized it on his social media, calling it "an inhumane, bottom-of-the-barrel act," and the parent company, Shinsegae Group, immediately dismissed Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jeong-hyun. The executive in charge of planning the event is also being dismissed. Additional disciplinary procedures for related employees are underway. Starbucks officially apologized, saying "the pre-review process was not thorough," and has launched an internal investigation. Shinsegae Group also announced plans to strengthen education on historical awareness and to overhaul internal work processes.
Industry officials view the incident as more than a simple mistake, saying it illustrates the "marketing risk" problem that has been recurring recently. In fact, the retail and food sectors have repeatedly faced controversies related to politics, history, and hate expressions in the past.
In 2019, Musinsa posted a card news item featuring a photo of slipper-style socks with the phrase "When we slapped the quick-drying desk, it dried with a thud." It used "We slapped the desk and with a thud, he died," the National Police Headquarters' statement at the time of the 1987 Park Jong-cheol torture death case. Musinsa issued an apology when a boycott emerged. However, on the 20th, the president mentioned the controversy again on social media, and Musinsa apologized once more.
GS25, operated by GS Retail, became embroiled in the so-called "kimchi protest" controversy in 2021 after labeling kimchi in its kimchi fried rice rice ball product as "pao cai," the Chinese term for pickled vegetables. The company eventually halted sales of the product and replaced all inventory. The same year, GS25 also deleted a camping event promotional poster and apologized after criticism that a hand gesture image in the poster evoked an expression associated with misandry.
More recently, controversy erupted on the YouTube channel of the Lotte Giants, the baseball club of Lotte Group. It was pointed out that the subtitle "infinite applause," inserted in a game victory video, is used in some online communities as a derogatory expression for former President Roh Moo-hyun. The Roh Moo-hyun Foundation delivered a letter of protest, and the Lotte club apologized, saying "it was not intentional," and announced plans to introduce second- and third-round review systems.
◇ Flood of "online meme" marketing as big corporations chase fads
Industry analysts say review risks have grown as recent corporations' marketing actively borrows online memes and community vernacular. With social media and short-form content accelerating consumer reactions, and with a spreading tendency to quickly deploy provocative or trendy expressions, internal reviews often are not conducted thoroughly.
A retail industry source said, "Given the nature of online channels, marketers often borrow expressions or memes frequently used by key consumer groups," and added, "When producing content quickly at the working level, there are cases where potential problems are not fully reviewed before use."
The industry also believes that social media promotions for short-term discounts or small-scale new product publicity—rather than large campaigns—are often executed quickly at the working level and not shared in detail up the chain of command. In this process, insufficient detailed reporting and review procedures can fail to screen out potential controversies.
An industry source said, "These days, sensitivity to online community expressions and political or gender issues is so high that a single word can cause a controversy to spread rapidly," adding, "It is regrettable that, at a time when the domestic market is weak, cases that harm the industry's image keep repeating."
Experts note that as corporations' official channels have become a window showing corporate values and ethics beyond mere promotional tools, it is necessary to strengthen review systems. Lee Jong-woo, a professor in the department of retail marketing at Namseoul University, said, "As ESG management has become more important recently, consumers are also paying close attention to a corporation's philosophy and ethical awareness," adding, "Compared with the past, the speed of spread via social media is much faster and there is a possibility it could develop into a boycott, so large-scale education for marketing personnel and stronger review systems are needed."