The Day AI showed the Boss the Door
It really shouldn’t have been difficult.
It really shouldn’t.
And it certainly shouldn’t have led to the CEO of one of the world’s most famous companies being forced to resign. Or their billionaire chairman needing to make a public apology on national TV. And then, along with his sacked CEO, being booked by the police as a ‘criminal suspect’.
After all, it was just the launch of a marketing campaign for new, large-capacity tumblers that would give customers more coffee to kick off the day ahead.
The Day AI showed the Boss the Door
Now in almost any country – not all – calling this the ‘Tank’ series would be appropriate, even catchy.
But not in Korea. Not on May 18th.
Not on the 46th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, a highly sensitive day in South Korea commemorating the hundreds, possibly thousands, of citizens who were killed by the then military dictatorship.
And not by calling it ‘Tank Day’ with the slogan: ‘thwack it on the table’.
Yes, ‘thwack it’.
Just like the 1987 claim by South Korean police that the death in custody of student activist, Park Jong-chol, was not due to torture, but rather because investigators had ‘hit the desk with a thwack’.
Public reaction was swift and widespread.
Starbucks merchandise was smashed, memberships cancelled, loyalty apps deleted, prepaid balances cashed out. Card payments dropped by 26% in the first week. The Government stopped offering Starbucks products at public events and promoted other coffee chains.
A PR disaster. But also a cautionary tale. For whilst it’s tempting to think of this as a ‘one-off, won’t happen to us’, it’s worth looking at how on earth this simple marketing campaign went so badly wrong.
No need to ask AI for the answer. The original marketing copy was proposed by an AI Chatbot. Ensing email messages were then not opened by the relevant senior managers (some of whom may now be seeking alternative employment).
Lesson to be learnt: AI is super-fast and super informative But it doesn’t ‘read the room’. It can – and will – make mistakes. Whenever asking AI for help, always, always, check and challenge what it suggests.
Footnote: social media being what it is, there was further outrage when it was revealed that a previous South Korean Starbucks campaign in 2024 for a ‘Siren’ mug promotion was launched on the anniversary of the awful Sewol ferry disaster.
Seems that some lessons don’t get learnt.
Tales from the Media Room
A star speech with authenticity
In this month's 'Tales From The Media' we take a wee look into the life of a celebrity who is unmistakably one of the media's global darlings, Sir. David Beckham.
This June saw Sir David received the 2,849th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, making him the first ever footballer to be honoured.
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