[Column] Is the National Assembly Now Interfering in Private Company Events?

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The Starbucks Coffee Korea promotional gift, the 'Summer Ready Bag,' which sparked numerous controversies, has even reached the desks of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee plenary session. On the 28th, Min Hyung-bae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed at the committee's plenary meeting that Starbucks violated the Fair Trade Act by attracting customers with the Summer Ready Bag promotional gift but failing to prepare a sufficient quantity. Representative Min cited Article 23 of the Fair Trade Act, which prohibits "unfair refusal of transactions or discriminatory treatment of trading partners" and "unfair use of one's trading position to deal with others."

Earlier, from May 21 to June 22, Starbucks held an event where customers who drank 17 beverages (3 mission drinks and 14 regular drinks) and collected stickers called 'e-Frequency' were given Summer Ready Bags and Summer Chairs on a first-come, first-served basis. The Summer Ready Bag was popular from the first day of the event, causing chaos as consumers lined up before stores opened. In secondhand trading communities, the bags were traded at a premium, quickly creating a market worth tens of millions of won. Ultimately, the Summer Ready Bags sold out early, and Starbucks concluded the event by providing two beverage coupons to customers who did not receive the gift.

This is not the first controversy over promotional gift shortages. When the mat 'My Holiday Mat' was offered as a gift, a scarcity phenomenon also occurred, and after the stock was depleted, the event ended by providing two beverage coupons.

Although these are promotional gifts, consumers have always expressed dissatisfaction due to their scarcity. To address their inconvenience, it seems necessary to increase the quantity of promotional gifts. Starbucks has never disclosed the quantity of gifts, but it is necessary to announce the quantity in advance before the event starts. While lining up from early morning and searching for stores with stock is a personal choice, providing related information is necessary to minimize consumer inconvenience.

Nevertheless, it is regrettable that the Starbucks promotional gift issue has appeared on the desk of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which is already burdened with numerous tasks. It seems excessive for the National Assembly to scrutinize and restrict private companies' marketing and events in detail. Cho Sung-wook, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, responded that it is difficult to determine whether Starbucks' actions regarding the Summer Ready Bag constitute unfair customer inducement, and that an investigation is needed to determine if there was a violation of the Fair Trade Act. Ultimately, administrative resources will inevitably be wasted to verify this. The urgent issue to restore the lost trust in administrative power is not the Summer Ready Bag.

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