{
  "id": 13924489,
  "title": "Starbucks Korea regains coffee chain lead five months after ‘Tank Day’ controversy",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/starbucks-korea-regains-coffee-chain-lead-five-months-after-tank-day",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-12T09:17:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times Business",
    "slug": "straits-times-business",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/business/starbucks-korea-regains-coffee-chain-lead-five-months-after-tank-day-controversy"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Starbucks Korea reclaimed its position as the top coffee chain in sales in September, after being in second place for four months following a public backlash over its \"Tank Day\" promotion. According to Mobile Index, Starbucks recorded an estimated 121 billion won in card payments in September, a 4.3% increase from August's 116 million S$. Monthly card spending had fallen to 100.39 billion won in June but increased for three consecutive months. In comparison, A Twosome Place, Starbucks' main competitor, recorded 110.5 billion won in September, a 6.4% decrease from the previous month. The gap between the two chains narrowed from around 7 billion won in July to just 1.9 billion won in September. This indicates a decrease in negative sentiment towards Starbucks, which had faced criticism for using phrases such as \"Tank Day\" to promote its tumbler discount on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. The campaign was widely criticized for evoking the military crackdown on pro-democracy protestors, leading to Starbucks Korea's CEO being dismissed, an apology from the company, and history education for employees. Other major coffee chains, such as Mega MGC Coffee and Paik's Coffee, also experienced declines in card payments. The figures do not include prepaid cards, mobile gift vouchers, and other payment methods, so they do not represent total revenue or confirm whether consumer confidence has fully recovered.",
  "summary": "It regained the top spot in sales after four months in second place.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}