After "Tank Day" Controversy, Starbucks Operator SCK Company Posts 18.4 Billion Won Deficit in Q2 (Comprehensive)

Operating Profit Drops by 58.7 Billion Won Year-on-Year, Returning to Losses
Sales Decrease by 6.1%
Boycott Movement and Cancellation of 'Summer Frequency' Event Affect Results
Parent Company Emart Also Sees Performance Deteriorate

Starbucks Korea recorded a deficit of over 18 billion won in the second quarter of this year, affected by the so-called "Tank Day Incident," which occurred on the 46th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on August 13, the operating loss of SCK Company, which operates Starbucks Korea, amounted to 18.4 billion won in the second quarter. This is a turnaround from a profit of 40.3 billion won during the same period last year, with revenue falling by 58.7 billion won. During the same period, sales also decreased by 6.1% to 747.3 billion won. SCK Company’s operating profit for the first half of the year was 10.9 billion won, dropping by 85.5% compared to the same period last year, and sales edged up only 0.5% to 1.5651 trillion won.

A Starbucks store in downtown Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Earlier, Starbucks Korea ran a tumbler promotion event from May 15 to May 26, during which it used phrases such as "Tank Day" and "Bang the Desk" on promotional posters. On online communities and social networking services (SNS), criticism arose that these expressions belittled the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and the 1987 death by torture of student activist Bak Jongcheol.

As the controversy grew, Starbucks Korea immediately suspended the event and issued an apology. On the day of the controversy, Shinsegae Group dismissed SCK Company’s then-CEO Son Jeonghyeon and the responsible executive, and initiated disciplinary procedures for other involved employees. However, calls for a boycott of Starbucks were promoted by political circles and government organizations, while some consumers also moved to join the boycott, leading to prolonged aftereffects. The company cited the cancellation of its “Summer Frequency Event” in June—a flagship summer campaign for Starbucks—as a reason for the second quarter decline in performance.

In fact, following the Tank Day controversy, estimated payment volumes via Starbucks credit and debit cards showed a pronounced decrease. According to Mobile Index, an analytics service by AI data firm IGAWorks, estimated payment volume for Starbucks credit and debit cards in the second quarter of this year stood at 355.9 billion won, down 18.5% compared to the same period last year. In contrast, estimated card payment volumes at Twosome Place and Mega MGC Coffee grew by 28.5% and 34.1%, respectively. Notably, in May and June—after the controversy—Starbucks' estimated payment volume fell by 17% and 36% year-on-year, showing a sharper decline than its competitors. Note that these figures do not include membership payments.

Trends in café usage were also notable. According to the "Café Trend Report 2026" by Open Survey, released late last month based on responses from 1,200 men and women, 71.0% of consumers who used franchise cafés in the past month visited Mega MGC Coffee. Starbucks, previously the market leader, fell to second place with a 69.2% usage rate. Mega MGC Coffee's primary usage rate rose by 5.0 percentage points year-on-year, ranking first in both usage rate and frequency.

Meanwhile, the deterioration of Starbucks Korea’s earnings also affected its parent company, Emart. On a consolidated basis, Emart posted an operating loss of 43 billion won in the second quarter, turning into a deficit compared to an operating profit of 21.6 billion won for the same period last year. Sales were 691.5 billion won, down 1.8% year-on-year, while net loss widened to 136.8 billion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.