When A Name Must Not Be Used While Ordering A Starbucks
Starbucks in South Korea, has decided to temporarily block customers ordering drinks using names of candidates contesting for the upcoming Presidential Elections. A discussion amongst the teens.
South Korea is now gearing up to choose its new President. While that seems such a normal event, in the months leading up to the election, Starbucks has seen an increasing number of customers ordering drinks through their app using names such as “arrest Yoon Suk Yeol” or “Lee-Jae- myung is a spy”. One can imagine how these are likely to sound when the Starbucks baristas call out these names. It creates room for ideological conflict. Clearly, that is bad for business. This trend isn’t restricted to cafes like Starbucks alone. In order to prevent spread of wrong information, South Korea’s biggest search engine has disabled auto suggest feature.
Blocking customers who use these names- Does it hamper freedom of expression?
“People choosing to give names such as these is satire and at some level it is required in a democracy. While some may consider it funny, it is also meant to educate people, motivate them to ask questions, try and find information. Isn’t that important in an election?”
“But is it fair to the candidates?”
“Perhaps, it is not, but the people have a right to correct information.”
Should companies like Starbucks stay politically neutral?
“Ideally situations such as this one, it is best to stay neutral. It is best for business to avoid conflict in public places.”
“It is also important to avoid conflict keeping in mind that the workers too would have different political preferences. Workplace conflict is not good for business.”
“If the issue is one that impacts entire humankind, then companies like Starbucks must take a stand. In such cases, taking stand could help a cause. For instance, it is commendable that Harvard is taking a stand not to send foreign students back home although the current administration in the United States has changed the policy and requires foreign students to be sent back. This example shows how an institution or a company that is well know takes a stand on a matter, everyone stops and notices.”
The discussion ended on that note as we ran out of time. However, it set all of us thinking beyond our political science textbooks. Elections, fairness, issues that matter to a big population, freedom of expression etc. It would be interesting to watch how events unfold as we move forward.
Every week at the Young Writers’ Club (a writing club for teen writers), we catch up with interesting news, discuss, analyze and have invigorating discussions. This article is part of the weekly newsletter that is sent to the members of the club.
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