Starbucks in South Korea has shuttered its stores for a company-wide history lesson, a move that comes after a fierce backlash over its depiction of a colonial-era independence fighter. The coffee giant, which operates over 1,800 outlets in the country, bowed to public pressure on Tuesday, halting sales for a two-hour mandatory training session for its 20,000 employees.
The row erupted earlier this month when Starbucks released a poster for its 'Korea Hand Drip' series, featuring a map of the Korean peninsula and a text that some claimed glorified Japanese colonial rule. Critics argued the design, which included the phrase 'like the sun that never sets from east to west', echoed Japanese imperial propaganda. Social media was swift and unforgiving. Within days, Starbucks Korea issued an apology and announced the blanket staff training on Korean history.
But here is the part that should make British executives squirm. The episode is not an isolated one. From Marks & Spencer's 'skinny' tea towel mocking Indian famine to Burberry's noose hoodie, UK brands have a track record of tone-deaf colonial callbacks. The difference now is the speed and ferocity of consumer backlash, amplified by social media and a global reckoning with imperial pasts.
Sources close to Starbucks say the company has been 'caught off guard' by the intensity of feeling. 'They thought an apology and a pull of the poster would suffice,' one insider said. 'But the public wanted more. They wanted to see that the company understood why the imagery was offensive. That is a higher bar now.'
Starbucks Korea's response has been drastic but perhaps necessary. The training session, titled 'Understanding Korean History and Culture', covered the colonial period from 1910 to 1945, focusing on the independence movement and the role of figures like Yu Gwan-sun, whose image was allegedly misappropriated. Starbucks said it would also establish a 'history advisory board' of academics to vet future marketing.
For British brands, the lesson is stark. The UK's colonial history is as contested as Japan's, and the memory of empire is raw in former colonies. A 2021 YouGov poll found that 59% of Britons think the British Empire is something to be proud of, but in countries once under London's thumb, sentiment is very different. Indian consumers, for instance, boycotted fashion retailer H&M in 2022 over a sweatshirt that carried an image of what appeared to be a colonial-era Indian soldier. The company apologised and removed the product, but the damage was done.
Brands that fail to grasp this risk not just a social media storm but real financial pain. Starbucks Korea's decision to shut up shop for a day cost it an estimated $2 million in lost sales, by some calculations. But the reputational cost of staying open would have been higher. 'You cannot put a price on trust,' a crisis management consultant told me. 'And once it is gone, it is almost impossible to buy back.'
The Koreans have shown that a full, unflinching reckoning with history is the only way forward. British brands should be taking careful notes. The lesson is this: colonialism is not a distant memory. For millions of consumers, its scars are still fresh. And the next brand to forget that will pay the price.
