Being creative can prove strenuous, but the relief provided by AI does have its pitfalls. A Starbucks advertising campaign is an prime example of this. A comment by Michael Scherer.
In South Korea, a stainless steel cup from the Starbucks merchandise collection was advertised under the name “Tank” because of its large size. In English this word means either a larger container or an actual military tank, and nobody thought this double meaning would be a problem. On the contrary, everything that initially causes confusion attracts greater attention and that is half the problem solved for advertising strategists.
AI was also used as a source of inspiration and it came up with the slogan “Tank Day”, which served as the motto for the promotional campaign that was launched on May 18. However, the chosen date was extremely unfavourable, because it is the Remembrance Day for the pro-democracy Gwangju uprising in May 1980, which was suppressed by the military government at the time with great brutality and the use of tanks.
Even though the campaign was broken off after a few hours, the faux pas resulted in days of protests in front of Starbucks branches and a significant decline in sales. The Shinsegae Group, Starbucks’ South Korean franchise partner, not only dismissed the CEO and made public apologies, but also opted for a measure with an urgent signal effect. On June 22, all of the over 2,000 Starbucks stores in South Korea closed at 3 p.m. to educate employees about the country’s history and raise awareness for socio-political issues.
However, a lack in history knowledge appears not to have been the only problem. According to research by the British newspaper, The Guardian, several marketing executives had been informed about the campaign by email in advance and they had agreed to the concept without even opening the attachment containing the details.
