Starbucks’s South Korean operation on Monday kicked off a marketing campaign for its line of drink tumblers and called it “Tank Day.”
But the chain, one of the most popular coffee brands in South Korea, got something badly wrong. It launched the promotion on the anniversary of a brutal 1980 crackdown in which a military dictatorship used tanks to suppress South Korean pro-democracy protesters, resulting in a massacre in the southern city of Gwangju.
The campaign by Starbucks Korea quickly sparked outrage and a boycott. Social media users shared photos and videos in which they smashed Starbucks mugs and tumblers with hammers, as well as screenshots showing the Starbucks app being deleted from phones.
Even President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea weighed in, saying the ad campaign was inhumane and “mocked the bloody struggle of citizens.”
Within hours, Starbucks Korea halted the promotional event. Its chief executive, Son Jeong-hyun, was fired and the company issued a wide-ranging public apology.
“We have recognized that the wording used in our online tumbler sales event contained highly inappropriate references to the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement,” the company said on its website.
It added that “the content in question was not thoroughly reviewed internally prior to the event’s launch.”
Critics also said that a phrase used in the Starbucks ad copy — “Thump it on the desk” — was reminiscent of another painful chapter in the country’s history. After the 1987 death of a student activist, Park Jong-cheol, the authorities initially claimed that Mr. Park had died after he “hit the desk and he let out a gasp.” It was later revealed that he had died by torture, and the lie about Mr. Park became a symbol of the brutality of the military dictatorship.
Starbucks Korea also apologized to Mr. Park’s family.
Shinsegae Group, the retail conglomerate that operates Starbucks Korea, said that it had dismissed Mr. Son and launched an internal investigation.
“This incident was an unacceptable oversight that trivialized the pain and sacrifices of all those who have dedicated themselves to the democracy of this country,” Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, said on Tuesday.
Mr. Chung said the group would provide education and training for all executives and employees, including himself, “to establish a stronger sense of historical awareness and ethical responsibility.”
Starbucks Global, headquartered in Seattle, also apologized, saying that any offense was unintentional.
“We recognize the deep pain and offense this has caused, particularly to those who honor the victims, their families and all who contributed to Korea’s democratization,” company said.
The campaign struck a nerve because the bloody suppression of the uprising that began in Gwangju on May 18, 1980, against the military dictator Chun Doo-hwan is a foundational event for democratic South Korea.
“We feel devastated and furious about this act of insulting May 18 and democracy,” said Yang Jae-hyeok, 58, whose older brother participated with him in the uprising and received medical treatment for two decades because of trauma he suffered afterward.
Mr. Yang, who leads an association of uprising victims’ relatives, said that the outrage was magnified because it came less than two years after former President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly imposed martial law, a move that plunged the country into crisis and forced many South Koreans to confront the historical horrors of the democracy movement. Mr. Yoon is serving a life sentence after being found guilty of masterminding an insurrection in that episode.
“Seeing martial law happen again showed us that democracy can be in danger if we let our guard down and do not protect it ourselves,” Mr. Yang said. “It showed us that it should not be brushed aside as history, but that it could be a living reality at any moment.”
Francesca Regalado contributed reporting.
