As controversy over Starbucks Korea's "Tank Day" marketing led to the dismissal of its CEO, caution over "marketing risk" is growing across the retail sector. As marketing that uses online memes and community expressions keeps increasing, cases are recurring in which a short phrase or a single photo consolidates with political, historical, or gender conflicts and deals a critical blow to a corporation'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 "A slam on the desk!" and "5.18 Tank Day," and is facing a wave of criticism. President Lee Jae-myung strongly criticized it on his social media as "inhumane, trashy behavior," and the parent company, Shinsegae Group, immediately dismissed Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jeong-hyeon. The executive in charge of planning the event was also dismissed, and 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 completely overhaul its internal work processes and strengthen education on historical awareness.
Industry officials see this incident as more than a simple mistake and as a case that highlights the recurring "marketing risk" problem. In fact, in the retail and food sectors, controversies related to politics, history, and hate expressions have repeatedly occurred 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 suddenly dried up." It used "When we slapped the desk, he suddenly died," a line from the National Police Headquarters' announcement at the time of the 1987 torture-death of Park Jong-cheol. Musinsa issued an apology when a boycott arose. However, on the previous day (the 20th), after the president mentioned the controversy again on social media, Musinsa issued another apology.
GS25, operated by GS Retail, became embroiled in the so-called "kimchi legitimacy" controversy in 2021 after labeling kimchi on its kimchi fried rice rice ball product as "pao cai," a term for Chinese-style pickled vegetables. The company eventually halted sales of the product and replaced all inventory. The same year, GS25 deleted and apologized for a camping promotion poster after criticism that a hand-gesture image in the poster evoked an expression associated with hatred of men.
More recently, controversy also arose on the YouTube channel of the Lotte Giants, the baseball club of Lotte Group. The caption "infinite applause" inserted into a victory video drew criticism that some online communities use it 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 "there was no intent," and announced plans to introduce second- and third-stage review systems.
◇ Flood of "online meme" marketing as big corporations just chase trends
Industry officials analyze that as corporations' marketing has actively adopted online memes and community grammar, review risks have grown. With social media and short-form content at the center, consumer reactions have sped up, and as the tendency to quickly capitalize on provocative or trendy expressions spreads, internal reviews often are not carried out sufficiently.
A retail industry official said, "Given the nature of online channels, marketing often borrows expressions or memes frequently used by key consumer groups," and added, "When content is produced quickly at the working level, there are cases where it is used without fully reviewing potential problems."
The industry also believes that social media promotions at the level of short-term discount events or small-scale new product publicity, rather than large campaigns, often proceed quickly at the working level and are not thoroughly shared up the chain of command. In this process, detailed reporting and review procedures may not be carried out sufficiently, leading to failures to screen out the potential for controversy.
An industry official said, "These days, sensitivity to online community expressions and political and gender issues is so high that a single word can cause controversy to spread rapidly," and added, "It is regrettable that cases that negatively affect the industry's image are recurring when the domestic market is already weak."
Experts note that as corporations' official channels have become windows that show corporate values and ethics beyond simple promotional tools, strengthening review systems is necessary. Lee Jong-woo, a professor in the Department of Distribution and Marketing at Namseoul University, said, "As ESG management has grown in importance recently, consumers are placing greater emphasis on corporations' philosophy and ethics," and added, "The speed of spread via social media is much faster than in the past, and the potential to escalate into boycotts is high. Education for employees, including marketing staff, and stronger review systems are needed."