Even if Starbucks’ Ireland Twitter account only has 2,000 followers, it probably should’ve thought a bit harder before asking those followers how it feels to be British. You know, since Ireland’s a free and independent republic that is most definitely not part of the United Kingdom anymore.

The Guardian reports that @StarbucksIE asked its followers on Tuesday to “show us what makes you proud to be British” as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee celebration promotion.

As one might think, those Irish followers weren’t too happy that Starbucks is apparently in need of a refresher course in Irish history.

Hours later, Starbucks’ Ireland account apologized, Tweeting: “We erroneously posted to our Irish Twitter page meaning to post to the UK only. Customers in Ireland: We’re sorry.”

An official statement followed, saying:

First and foremost we apologise to our Irish customers for the mistake made on Twitter this afternoon. The tweet, which was only meant to be sent to our British Twitter followers as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations, was erroneously posted to our Irish Twitter page. We apologise to all our customers and followers on Twitter in Ireland and hope that they will forgive our mistake.

Starbucks isn’t the only big company to rub the Hibernians the wrong way recently. Urban Outfitters pulled a few T-shirts it was selling around St. Patrick’s Day, after complaints that they depicted the Irish in an unflattering light.

Then there was Nike’s “Black and Tan” sneaker, also released near St. Patrick’s Day, which shared a name with both a beverage and, unfortunately, a violent British paramilitary unit blamed for atrocities against Catholics during the Irish war of independence.

Starbucks in hot water after asking Irish tweeters if they are proud to be British [The Guardian]

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