Starbucks avoids the controversy of fermentation by banning the names of presidential candidates

Walking at any Starbucks in South Korea is currently, and there are some names that you will definitely hear.

Six precisely – and it coincides with the names of the candidates who run in the upcoming presidential race.

This is because Starbucks temporarily prevented customers who ask drinks from using these names, which will be called by Baristas.

The company said it needs to “maintain political neutrality during the election season,” adding that this will be raised after the elections on June 3.

Companies and celebrities in South Korea usually seek to be seen as neutral. But it has become more important in recent months, as the political turmoil that former President Yun Suk Yol has left the country more divided than ever.

Now, while South Korea is preparing to choose its new president after isolating Yun, even the most worldly things can become politicization – you have learned Starbucks in the difficult way.

In recent months, it has seen an increasing number of customers who seek drinks through their application and reactor in phrases such as “Yoon Suk Yeol” or “opposition leader) Lee Jae-Myung is a spy” as their titles.

Starbucks Paristas had no choice but to scream these names as soon as drinks were ready for the collection.

“Our goal is to make sure that every customer has a great experience in our cafes,” Starbucks said in a statement about his new step to ban the names of the six presidential candidates.

“To help with this, we sometimes prevent certain phrases that can be misunderstood by our employees or customers – such as the names of political candidates who have support or opposition messages during the election season to maintain neutrality.”

But this represents the first time that the names of all the candidates working in the elections were banned. Besides Lee, the other names are Kim Moon-SOO, Lee Jun-SEOK, Kwon Young -k-Ak, Hwang Kyo-ahn and Song Jin-Ho.

Some believe that the coffee giant takes things very far.

“I think people are very sensitive. What if your real name was the same as the candidate?” Gang Hi Mi, 33, said.

Ji-Suk-Ben, 27, said in Starbucks, said he believed the base was “very trivial”, although he said he understood the logic behind him given the growing political tensions in the country.

“After (isolating Yun) I no longer talk about politics anymore. It seems that the ideological gap has grown so much that the conversations turn into arguments.”

Starbucks is not alone. Naver, the largest search engine in the country, has disabled the automatic completion and related search suggestions for the candidates, as usually during the election season.

The Google Research on Lee, which is widely inclined to win the elections, results in phrases like “Lee Jae -Fyung Trial” – in reference to the fact that it is currently involved in many criminal trials.

The search for the conservative presidential candidate in the country Kim Moon Sue provides a proposal related to “transfer”, as it is widely seen as a “transformation” from being an active to a conservative politician.

Never said she decided to do this “to provide more accurate and fair information during the election campaign.”

Celebrities and general numbers are very careful, as they are detained according to high standards of political neutrality. Even the clothes they wear during the election time will be examined very examined.

Wearing colors such as blue and red – which represents the liberal Democratic Party in the country (DP) and the Conservative Popular Party (PPP), respectively – was sufficient to prepare a violent reaction online.

Sometimes, even a baseball hat or neck alone is sufficient to stir accusations of the support of the party.

During the recent presidential elections in 2022, Kim, Cho Shoul of the K-Pop Super Junior group was accused as a supporter of PPP when he was seen wearing red slippers and a pink mask.

Last year, Chengji, the main vocalist of the famous trio Coiot, published a black and white experiment image on Instagram a day before the general elections, with the illustrations that “made the image in black and white … (after) see the color of the sweat pants.”

“Funny and sad at the same time,” she added.

Some celebrities go further, and deliberately wear a mixture of red and blue.

A makeup artist, who is more than a decade of experience in working with K-POP stars and PBC actors, told the elections, the design teams disappear from political symbolic colors.

“We usually adhere to neutral colors such as black, white or gray,” said the makeup artist, who refused to call him.

She added that celebrities should be careful when hitting a position.

The peace mark flashing a picture? It can be read as the second number – thus supporting a political candidate. In South Korea, both candidates for the elections are appointed as a number.

“It is important that you are able to talk about different things without crossing the line, and be able to identify and understand differences,” says Dr. Zhou Jin Man, of the Doxung Ladies University.

But with a lot of division in the country, he adds that many choose to “remain silent to stay political.”