this post was submitted on 23 May 2026
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The South Korean government has banned Starbucks vouchers after the company ran a "Tank Day" promotion on the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising—when military tanks killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters—and used wording that evoked a notorious torture death cover-up.

Tiny bit of context: Starbucks vouchers were the go-to standard for gift giving/promotional gifts in South Korea. They're not too expensive, and they don't explicitly show their monetary value, which I guess is a cultural thing(I wonder if any other culture also avoids giving something with an explicit face value).

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[–] magnetosphere@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I don’t understand. What is Tank Day? Why is “Tak! on the desk” problematic?

[–] napkin2020@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

Tank Day" is a bizarre marketing choice. The tumblers they were trying to promote were named "The Tank"

Tak! on the desk

This comes from an infamous police cover-up during South Korea's 1987 democratization movement. When an activist died under torture, the police claimed: "I just slammed the desk 'thud' (tak), and he suddenly went 'gasp' (eok) and died."

​"탁 치니 억하고 죽었다" is the literal Korean phrase for that ridiculous excuse, and "책상에 탁(Tak on the desk)" is pretty obviously quoting that phrase.