Updated 5.34pm

STARBUCKS IRELAND HAS issued an apology after it “erroneously posted” a tweet which encouraged followers to “show us what makes you proud to be British”.

The tweet was posted to the @StarbucksIE account at 1.45pm today and read: “Happy hour is on! Show us what makes you proud to be British for a chance to win. Don’t forget to tag #MyFrappuccino”

TheJournal.ie asked Starbucks for a comment on the social network faux pas but with the Diamond Jubilee holiday in the UK was told by a spokesperson that it would be difficult to raise the issue with someone in the social media department.

Eventually, at 5.20pm this evening an apologetic tweet was sent out to the account’s followers:

However at the time of writing the now infamous tweet is still visible on the account, over four hours after it was posted.

Here’s what some of you thought of it:

(@colmtobin/Twitter)

(@josefoshea/Twitter)

(@leoie/Twitter)

(@johnmadden78/Twitter)

Mind you, not everyone is sure that lashing out on Twitter will make a blind bit of difference to Starbucks’ commercial success in Ireland:

(@paulmwatson/Twitter)

But if Starbucks is really interested in damage limitation, maybe they should take a tip from this lady:

(@NiamhPitts/Twitter)

What do think? Are you particularly bothered by the mistake?

- additional reporting from Hugh O’Connell