Did Netizens “Discriminate” Between Jeon Somi and LE SSERAFIM’s Yunjin over Using Starbucks?
As the boycott against Starbucks continues, the reactions of netizens towards idols who use the brand also vary.
In 2023, Starbucks came under fire for allegedly terminating and suing employees who support Palestine in the recent humanitarian crisis, leading to people calling for a boycott campaign against the beverage chain.
As a result, celebrities who consume Starbuck products quickly fell to criticisms, and K-pop idols are no exception.
Among those, Jeon Somi, who was accused of intentionally promoting Starbucks in a TikTok video, received the harshest comments. The female idol eventually deleted her video and issued a statement, but criticisms never died down.
Most recently, it was LE SSERAFIM’s Yunjin that was spotted drinking Starbucks. However, netizens can’t help but notice how compared to Somi, the criticisms towards Yunjin were way lighter.
In fact, many people are already defending Yunjin within mere days of her Starbucks controversy. Meanwhile, the backlash targeting Somi lasted for months, and saw no sign of stopping.
Against the accusations of “discriminating” between Somi and Yunjin, however, some netizens pointed out that English-speaking idols like Somi and Yunjin are actually condemned more than other K-pop idols.
These people also pointed out that BLACKSWAN’s Fatou previously acknowledged that Koreans do know about the Starbucks boycott, so claims that Korean idols being less aware than English speakers are groundless.
However, amid all these, many just wanted the arguments to stop, stating that people are turning a serious issue into a meaningless fanwar instead of focusing on supporting Palestine.
Source: Krb, X
