NCT fans protest after K-pop boy band collaborates with Starbucks

Starbucks Korea dropped their collaborative collection with popular K-pop boy band NCT yesterday (May 30) but fans are protesting against it.

The coffeehouse brand has been in the hot seat globally since the US branch sued its workers' union for posting a message on social media expressing "solidarity" with Palestine.

NCT fans launched a boycott against the collaboration, taking to platforms like X to spread the movement.

Tagging the group's agency SM Entertainment and NCT's official accounts, fans started a hashtag named #SM_Boycott_Genocide.

Posts under the hashtag have gone viral, with one reaching over 13,000 shares.

"We do not want NCT or any of your artists to associate with or promote Starbucks, or any companies that are financing a genocide in Palestine," wrote a fan on X.

Another made a similar post in Korean: "I hope they cancel their co-operation with the companies subject to the boycott."

The Starbucks boycott nods to the global Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to rally international pressure on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories, said a February report by Time Magazine.

Amid fans' demands, NCT's Taeyong took to his Instagram Story to post a black background with the word "boycott", while fellow member Renjun posted a white background with the word "peace" and emojis of a coffee cup, broken heart and a cross.

Both were deleted soon after.

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syarifahsn@asiaone.com

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