Recently, many far-right Starbucks meme content generated using artificial intelligence (AI) has been posted on various online communities and social media. There are cartoons showing former President Chun Doo-hwan drinking Starbucks coffee, cartoons showing Starbucks logo 'Sirens' driving tanks and crushing North Korean and Chinese residents depicted as demons, and ,,,posters describing Starbucks as a 'clean area without communists.' There are even composites that seem to worship the German Nazis, symbols of far-right war criminals, and Starbucks. In response to the government's and ruling party's boycott of Starbucks, well-known far-right YouTubers and conservative politicians, and celebrities choosing Starbucks are being consumed as if they are far-right symbols, raising concerns that this phenomenon is actually of no help to Starbucks. Chairman Chung Yong-jin has issued a public apology, and the group has released its own fact-finding investigation results . While efforts to resolve the situation are being announced, controversy could only spread further. From a management perspective, this could be a mid- to long-term burden. Starbucks headquarters in the U.S. is known for valuing brand image and 'political correctness' (PC), and externally, it has emphasized social responsibility on issues related to race, gender, and minority by promoting DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies. Starbucks is environmental To protect the brand, the company took the lead in eliminating plastic straws from stores worldwide, and its policy allowing customers to use stores and restrooms without ordering products has been regarded as examples of the headquarters' philosophy of valuing brand image. ,,,, it is known that the U.S. headquarters is closely monitoring Starbucks in Korea as it becomes a symbol of the far-right movement.
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