Quick Read
Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed.
In South Korea, Starbucks has blocked six presidential candidates’ names from drink orders to maintain political neutrality during the election season. This move aims to prevent discomfort among customers amid a polarised political climate.
In South Korea, the coffee culture has become entangled in the country’s tense political atmosphere. Starbucks, a popular coffee chain, has temporarily blocked six names from being used in drink orders – all of which belong to presidential candidates running in the upcoming election.
The decision aims to maintain political neutrality during the election season, which will conclude on June 3. A Starbucks Korea spokesperson told NBC that the policy was introduced “in order to prevent inappropriate and abusive use of the names”.
This move is a response to the growing trend of customers using politicians’ names as nicknames when ordering drinks, often accompanied by messages of support or opposition. For instance, customers have been known to order drinks with phrases like “arrest Yoon Suk Yeol” or “[opposition leader] Lee Jae-myung is a spy”. Starbucks baristas would then call out these names when the drinks were ready, potentially creating an uncomfortable atmosphere for other customers.
The six presidential candidates whose names are blocked from Starbucks orders are:
– Lee Jae-myung, leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party
– Kim Moon-soo, from the conservative People Power Party
– Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party
– Kwon Young-kook
– Hwang Kyo-ahn
– Song Jin-ho
Lee Jae-myung is leading in polls, Kim is catching up and he could pull even if he convinces Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party to drop out of the election and support him. South Korea will hold its presidential elections on June 3 after President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office on April 4 because of his botched up martial law bid in December.
The decision to block these names is part of a broader effort by businesses and celebrities to maintain neutrality in the highly polarised political environment.
Other companies, like Naver, South Korea’s largest search engine, have also taken steps to maintain neutrality. Naver has disabled autocomplete and related search suggestions for political candidates to provide fair and accurate information during the election campaign.
“Our goal is to make sure every customer has a great experience in our coffeehouses,” Starbucks said in a statement. “To help with that, we sometimes block certain phrases that could be misunderstood by our employees or customers — like names of political candidates with messages of support or opposition during election season to maintain neutrality.”