“Queen Of Tears” Viewers Disappointed As Starbucks Is Featured Amidst Global Boycott

Is it really product placement?
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K-Drama Queen of Tears viewers were disappointed by alleged product placement in the latest episode.

Kim Soo Hyun (left) and Kim Ji Won (right)
Kim Soo Hyun (left) and Kim Ji Won (right)

Queen of Tears follows the Queens Group heiress Hong Hae In (Kim Ji Won) and her husband Baek Hyun Woo (Kim Soo Hyun), who is also the legal director of Queens Department Store, as they face challenges in their third year of marriage. The K-Drama was highly anticipated, naturally receiving high ratings in its first weeks due to a phenomenal cast and crew, including Crash Landing on You writer and directors.

The queen of department stores and the prince of supermarkets weather a marital crisis —until love miraculously begins to bloom again.

— Netflix

Kim Soo Hyun (left) and Kim Ji Won (right)
Kim Soo Hyun (left) and Kim Ji Won (right)

While the K-Drama has been praised so far for its unique romantic comedy storylines and the actors’ improvisation, a scene in Episode 4 disappointed viewers. They noticed that Hyun Woo was drinking out of a Starbucks cup while he talked to staff about his wife’s interactions with the second male lead.

Viewers couldn’t believe that Starbucks was being used in a K-Drama, especially during a global boycott of the American coffee chain.

Since October, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has reportedly surpassed 30,000 due to Israeli attacks. The surviving Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to survive as over 70,000 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.

However, some netizens have noted that some international Starbucks stores are independent. For example, Starbucks Coffee Korea’s current CEO, Son Jung Hyun, is of the global retail tech company Shinsegae I&C. Starbucks reportedly has no shares in Starbucks Coffee Korea. Still, the franchise does pay 5% royalties for using the brand’s name and logo. Recently, Workers United and Starbucks began discussions to build “a productive relationship in the best interests of Starbucks partners.” 

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

Still, many are boycotting Starbucks. Hence, Queen of Tears‘ viewers’ disappointment. However, some pointed out that the filming of these episodes occurred last year. Reportedly, it was filmed from April 2023 to December 2023, so it could have been before the boycott.

Regardless, the “product placement” is strange. K-Dramas are known for their prominent product placements, including dialogue about the products—for instance, Kopiko coffee candies. Yet, Hyun Woo never said anything about his coffee. Instead, he appeared to be attempting to cover up the logo, even if he did a poor job doing so. Compared to the product placement of McDonald’s, which is also boycotted, in Castaway Diva, the scene in Queen of Tears didn’t feel like product placement.

That only makes it more unusual. If Starbucks continues to appear in the K-Drama, we will know it’s intentional and official product placement.

Source: News18

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