“I Don’t Seem To Have Any Authority”: NCT Taeyong’s Message Resurfaces Amid Starbucks Boycott

He can’t do much.
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Recently, it was announced that K-Pop group NCT had collaborated with coffee chain Starbucks.

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| Starbucks
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| Starbucks

Yet, not all NCTzens were happy about this new collaboration.

Since October, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has reportedly surpassed 34,000 due to Israeli attacks. The surviving Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to survive as over 77K are injured, starving, displaced, and lost homes, family, and friends.

Around 1 in every 25 Palestinians in Gaza are now injured or dead, Islamic Relief says as Israel’s bombardment continues unabated.

— ReliefWeb

More people worldwide are becoming aware of this humanitarian crisis and hoping to do their part in making a difference. So, BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) is an entity that has helped identify brands that should be targeted in boycotts. The Palestinian BDS National Committee shared a list of brands to boycott, placing them in categories. Popular fast-food chains, such as McDonald’s and Starbucks, are organic targets, although the latter was not on BDS’s boycott list.

The BDS movement did not initiate these grassroots boycott campaigns but is in support of them due to these brands openly supporting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

— BDS on organic boycott targets

bds boycott

In October 2023, the worker-led union of Starbucks, representing at least 9,000 employees, shared a post via X (formerly Twitter). In the statement, Starbucks Workers United stood in solidarity with Palestine.

As of June 2023, over 8,000 workers at over 360 Starbucks stores in at least 40 states in the United States have voted to unionize, primarily with Workers United. As of March 2023 none have yet enacted a collective bargaining agreement.

— Wikipedia

Shortly after, Starbucks released its own statements, which denounced the union. Starbucks did not want to be associated with the union’s stance.

Starbucks wanted to stop the union from using its name and logo, saying the company had no official stance on the war and the union’s post might confuse customers. But many boycotters, like Blake, thought Starbucks should offer more support to the people of Gaza.

— AP News

Starbucks statement
| Starbucks
Starbucks
| Starbucks

Starbucks then sued its employees on October 18 for trademark infringement. The company claimed the social media post angered its customers and had the potential to damage the company’s reputation. Starbucks’ actions only disappointed customers.

Starbucks
| Starbucks
Starbucks
| Starbucks

Since then, Starbucks has been boycotted worldwide as customers thought it was unethical of Starbucks to sue its employees for their stance on the humanitarian issue. Consequently, Starbucks lost $12 billion USD in market value, with some locations even closing and filing bankruptcy in many countries.

Recently, Workers United and Starbucks began discussions to build “a productive relationship in the best interests of Starbucks partners.” Still, many are continuing to boycott the coffee chain.

We have agreed with Workers United that we will begin discussions on a foundational framework designed to achieve collective bargaining agreements, including a fair process for organizing, and the resolution of some outstanding litigation.

— Starbucks

So, when the NCT x Starbucks collaboration was announced, NCTzens reminded fellow fans of the Starbucks boycott amid the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Now, one NCT member has seemingly spoken out regarding the group’s Starbucks collaboration.

Taeyong shocked the fandom when he updated his Instagram Story with a black background and the word “Boycott” on it. Many shared screenshots from different phones, proving its authenticity.

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The post was quickly deleted. Still, many netizens screenshotted it and expressed their pride that Taeyong had shown his solidarity and taken a stance despite currently being enlisted in mandatory military service. It’s suspected his company, SM Entertainment, took it down.

While Taeyong cannot update bubble/Lsyn at this time, a resurfaced message from October 2023 is going viral, with 381.8K views at the time of writing. In the message, Taeyong said that although he is the leader and people have lots of expectations and demands, he has no actual authority since he is not in charge of his company.

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| Lysn via @protect_tyong/X

Because I’m the leader, there are a lot of things here and there that people ask me to do…. I’m not the one who started the company…

— Taeyong

The resurfaced post only earned Taeyong more praise from NCTzens, realizing he probably took great risks to make his voice heard on the controversial boycott.

You can express your opinions, but do you know how dangerous it is for a soldier to voice his personal opinion on the political situation in another country when he is doing his duty in defense? That’s not something you do because you love the singer.

Read more about the boycott below.

NCT Fans Announce A Boycott Of The Group’s Latest Brand Endorsement In Support Of Palestine

Source: HAARETZ

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