South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Starbucks Korea as part of an investigation into a marketing campaign accused of trivialising the country\u2019s 1980s pro-democracy movement.<\/p>\n
Investigators searched the building in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday. No further details were released, although South Korean media reported that officers also searched the homes of the Starbucks<\/a> Korea executives.<\/p>\n The coffee chain triggered a public outcry<\/a> after launching a range of stainless-steel reusable tumblers it called \u201cSS Tank\u201d and declaring 18 May \u201cTank Day\u201d. The date marks the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, when pro-democracy demonstrators were brutally suppressed by South Korea\u2019s then military-backed government.<\/p>\n The campaign also used the slogan \u201cThwack it on the table!\u201d, which many interpreted as a reference to a notorious 1987 police claim that the student activist Park Jong-chul<\/a> died after investigators \u201chit the desk with a thwack\u201d. Authorities had falsely used the phrase to conceal the fact that Park had died by torture during an interrogation.<\/p>\n The backlash over the coffee chain\u2019s marketing campaign prompted Shinsegae Group, which owns a 67.5% stake in Starbucks Korea, to cancel the promotion within hours and dismiss the company\u2019s chief executive<\/a>. The Shinsegae chair, Chung Yong-jin, later issued a televised apology.<\/p>\n