Starbucks Korea controversy draws overseas backlash, calls for HQ intervention

SEATTLE — Days after Starbucks Korea’s “Tank Day” campaign sparked outrage domestically, overseas social media users have begun reacting to the controversy, with some drawing comparisons to tragedies such as the Sept. 11 attacks and calling on Starbucks headquarters in Seattle to intervene. The controversy, which initially triggered backlash largely within Korea, has increasingly spread overseas this week as English-language posts explaining the historical significance of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising circulated widely on Reddit, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). Many foreign users attempted to contextualize the controversy for international audiences by comparing it to marketing campaigns tied to national tragedies in their own countries. “Imagine the American Starbucks HQ launching a promotion on Sept. 11 with a catch phrase like 9/11 Airplane Day,” one Instagram user wrote in a widely shared comment. Others drew comparisons to Holocaust-related marketing, with one commenter sarcastically referring to a hypothetical “Gas Day.” “Wow, how did they manage to mess that up?