Starbucks [Newsis]
Starbucks [Newsis]

Lee Byung-tae, vice chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, who previously called government-backed boycotts of Starbucks "a very dangerous measure," said Wednesday he hopes the young staffers who conceived the "tank tumbler" marketing campaign are not subjected to unfair treatment.

Lee wrote on his Facebook page that the digital and e-commerce team members behind the campaign are in their 20s and 30s, and that the May 18 pro-democracy uprising and the torture death of Park Jong-chul occurred long before they were born. "It is only natural that they do not carry the 'social sensitivities' of an older generation," he said.

Lee Byung-tae, vice chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee [Newsis]
Lee Byung-tae, vice chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee [Newsis]

On the question of why management did not screen the campaign before it launched, Lee said requiring executives to sign off on every line of copy for a merchandise tumbler "would not be a normal company." He added that any workplace unwilling to delegate such decisions to junior staff "is not a place where young people would want to work or grow."

Lee also said that for today's 20s and 30s, the May 18 uprising and what older generations call the "democratization era" and "industrialization era" are distant collective memories shaped by society — no different from how those same young people relate to the Japanese colonial period or the Korean War — rather than personal experiences. "We must not forget that we live in a society where many generations hold different experiences and memories of history," he said. "We should not fall into the illusion that the memories and biases of our own generation are universally shared."


husn7@heraldcorp.com