South Korea: Starbucks avoids brewing controversy by banning presidential candidates’ names

Walk into any Starbucks in South Korea proper now, and there are some names you positively will not be listening to.

Six to be precise – they usually occur to be the names of the candidates operating within the upcoming presidential race.

That’s as a result of Starbucks has briefly blocked prospects who’re ordering drinks from utilizing these names, which might be referred to as out by baristas.

The firm mentioned it wanted to “keep political neutrality throughout election season”, including that this is able to be lifted after the election on 3 June.

South Korean companies and celebrities normally attempt to be seen as impartial. But it has develop into extra essential in latest months, as political turmoil triggered by former president Yoon Suk Yeol left the nation extra divided than ever.

Now, as South Korea gears as much as choose its new president following Yoon’s impeachment, even probably the most mundane issues can develop into politicised – a lesson Starbucks has learnt the onerous means.

In latest months, it has seen an rising variety of prospects ordering drinks by means of their app and keying in phrases akin to “arrest Yoon Suk Yeol” or “[opposition leader] Lee Jae-myung is a spy” as their nicknames.

Starbucks baristas had little selection however to yell out these names as soon as the drinks had been prepared for assortment.

“Our purpose is to ensure each buyer has an awesome expertise in our coffeehouses,” Starbucks mentioned in an announcement about its new transfer to ban the six presidential candidates’ names.

“To assist with that, we typically block sure phrases that may very well be misunderstood by our workers or prospects — like names of political candidates with messages of assist or opposition throughout election season to keep up neutrality.”

But this marks the primary time it has banned the names of all of the candidates operating in an election. Besides Lee, the opposite names are Kim Moon-soo, Lee Jun-seok, Kwon Young-kook, Hwang Kyo-ahn and Song Jin-ho.

Some assume the espresso large is taking issues a bit too far.

“I believe individuals are being too delicate. What in case your actual identify is similar as a candidate’s?” mentioned 33-year-old Jang Hye-mi.

Ji Seok-bin, a 27-year-old who’s a daily at Starbucks, mentioned he thought the rule was “too trivial”, although he mentioned he understood the logic behind it given the nation’s heightened political tensions.

“After [Yoon’s impeachment] I do not actually speak about politics anymore. It feels just like the ideological divide has grown a lot that conversations typically flip into arguments.”

Starbucks isn’t alone. The nation’s greatest search engine, Naver, has disabled autocomplete and associated search strategies for candidates, because it normally does throughout election season.

A search on Google for Lee, who’s extensively tipped to win the election, yields phrases like “Lee Jae-myung trial” – a reference to the truth that he’s presently embroiled in a number of legal trials.

A seek for the nation’s conservative presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo brings up a associated suggestion for “conversion”, as he’s extensively seen to have “transformed” from being a fervent labour activist to a conservative politician.

Naver mentioned it determined to do that to “present extra correct and honest data in the course of the election marketing campaign”.

Celebrities and public figures are additionally being additional cautious, as they’re held to excessive requirements of political impartiality. Even the garments they put on throughout election time could be extremely scrutinised.

Wearing colors like blue and crimson – which signify the nation’s liberal Democratic Party (DP) and conservative People’s Power Party (PPP) respectively – has previously been sufficient to set off on-line backlash.

Sometimes, even a baseball cap or necktie alone is sufficient to spark accusations of partisan assist.

During the final presidential election in 2022, Kim Hee-chul of Ok-pop group Super Junior was accused of being a PPP supporter when he was noticed carrying crimson slippers and a pink masks.

Last yr, Shinji, lead vocalist of the favored trio Koyote, posted a black and white exercise photograph on Instagram a day earlier than the overall election, with the caption that she “made the photograph black and white… [after] seeing the color of my sweatpants.”

“Funny and unhappy on the identical time,” she added.

Some celebrities go even additional, intentionally carrying a mixture of crimson and blue.

One make-up artist with over a decade of expertise working with Ok-pop stars and actors advised the BBC that in elections, styling groups avoid politically symbolic colors.

“We normally persist with impartial tones like black, white, or gray,” mentioned the make-up artist, who declined to be named.

Celebrities even should watch out when putting a pose, she added.

Flashing the peace signal for a photograph? That may very well be learn because the quantity two – and thus an endorsement of a politician. In South Korea, election candidates are every assigned a quantity.

Dr Cho Jin-man, of Duksung Women’s University, says it’s “vital to have the ability to speak about various things with out crossing the road, and to have the ability to recognise and perceive variations”.

But with a lot division within the nation, he provides that many are selecting to “stay silent to stay politically impartial”.