A South Korean netizen has posted a photo they claim is evidence of racism at a Starbucks in Munich, Germany. The blog post (in Korean) also claims the person at the counter imitated a monkey when serving them.
The Starbuck’s employee reportedly also remarked that the customer looked sleepy and suggested that she should ‘lay down’ in a manner that seemed sexually suggestive.
The blog post titled, ‘The service at a Starbucks in Germany’, features a photo of a Starbucks beverage with a slanted-eye stick figure in the place where the customer name ordinarily goes.
An outpouring of criticism has since erupted across South Korea –a public relations nightmare for Starbucks, which is hugely popular there, with more locations in Seoul than in any other city in the world.
Along with the post going viral, the Korean media has given it wide coverage, with the general consensus that the image is racially derogatory towards Asians.
The original blog post was penned on behalf of the person making the claims and their identity has not been revealed.
“The person who was directly involved in the issue feels a bit burdened because it’s become such a big controversy,” the blog states, according to Allkpop.
When asked by commenters why there was no complaint by the “friend” at the time of service, the poster explained:
“At the time, the person just left all huffy because she wasn’t fluent in German and English.”
Starbucks has yet to comment on the accusations.
Not the first time in Germany
Similar charges were widely reported in the Korean media back in 2014 with German Starbucks employees drawing racially derogatory images on cups.
