Fenbid milk tea debate puts caffeine ingredients under scrutiny

Painkiller brand Fenbid, owned by Sino-American SmithKline, partnered with TPLUS Tea House for a pop-up milk tea shop selling a drink called No White Boil Sweet Tea. Announced on Weibo on November 25 under the hashtag #HasFenbidOpenedAMilkTeaShop, the collaboration drew heated debate. Officials said the drink contains no medicinal ingredients, but critics argued the advertising never made that clear.

Fenbid's product line includes capsules, chewable tablets and paracetamol-caffeine tablets, and its warm, female-focused advertising has made it a familiar name for menstrual pain relief. That recognition is exactly what worried consumers: mixing a medicine brand into food can blur the line between a treat and a dose. Questions about caffeine ingredients, potential false advertising and where cross-industry partnerships should stop remain unresolved.

The painkiller brand Fenbid has teamed up with TPLUS Tea House to open a pop-up milk tea shop, launching the "No White Boil Sweet Tea," but the cross-industry collaboration between a pharmaceutical brand and food has sparked heated debate among netizens. Some worry it could mislead consumers, while others question whether it constitutes false advertising. Although the official side clarified that the drink contains no medicinal ingredients, the controversy has not subsided. Is this collaboration a warm-hearted marketing move or a brand overstepping its bounds? Where exactly is the line for cross-industry partnerships?

On November 25, Fenbid's official Weibo posted an update with the hashtag #HasFenbidOpenedAMilkTeaShop. The post began with a fill-in-the-blank question: "Thank you, ______," gradually leading to the idea that on the journey of pursuing dreams, the person most deserving of thanks is the one who repeatedly overcomes difficulties and pain, turning suffering into sweetness. Fenbid then announced its co-branded pop-up milk tea shop with TPLUS Tea House.

For many women, the name Fenbid is quite familiar. It is a painkiller brand under Sino-American SmithKline, with a product line that includes capsules, chewable tablets, and paracetamol-caffeine tablets, among other forms. Thanks to its excellent pain relief effects, Fenbid has built a solid reputation among consumers, especially being regarded by many women as a go-to choice for relieving menstrual pain.

Fenbid's commercials also adopt a female perspective, using warm storytelling to "document" a girl's journey of growth—she faces setbacks but repeatedly endures pain to move forward for her dreams. This chicken-soup-style warm monologue seems to have become Fenbid's core brand selling point.

However, in the face of this sudden cross-industry move, many netizens said they "couldn't understand it" and engaged in heated discussions on social platforms. Some pointed out that while they understand the fierce competition in the milk tea industry and the endless stream of brand collaborations, the advertisement did not clearly state "contains no medicinal ingredients," which could easily lead consumers to mistakenly believe that Fenbid was actually added to the drink. Other netizens asked: if there is no ibuprofen in the milk tea at all, is Fenbid suspected of false advertising?

In response to these questions, ibuprofen replied in the comments section of the co-branded Weibo post, stating that "this Fenbid No White Boil Sweet Tea event is jointly held by Fenbid and TPLUS Tea House, and the drink is provided by TPLUS Tea House. Its ingredients include mochi, fresh milk, and strawberries, and it contains no medicinal ingredients."

Although the ingredients of the co-branded milk tea have no substantive connection to Fenbid, the product packaging still uses Fenbid's classic color scheme, with both the cup body and cup sleeve in custom co-branded designs.

The official explanation seemed to have clarified the issue, but netizens were not ready to accept it so easily. They believe that a pharmaceutical brand crossing over into food is inherently somewhat misleading, especially since the promotional video continuously uses women's physiological and psychological changes to reinforce the brand impression. The intent of this strategy is obvious—it is simply to precisely target Fenbid's huge female user base as well as the core female consumer group of milk tea. As for the slogan "boiling pain into sweetness," some netizens even said bluntly that this is a kind of emotional PUA by the brand toward consumers.

Of course, amid all the mockery, some consumers were moved by Fenbid's warm advertisement, felt that the copy was quite meaningful, and said they would continue to support the brand.

Coffee Workshop has previously reported cases of pharmaceutical brands opening milk tea shops, but most traditional Chinese medicine brands take advantage of their own strengths by incorporating nourishing and health-preserving ingredients into milk tea. This kind of cross-industry move often wins more favor from netizens, because introducing traditional Chinese medicine elements into new-style drinks not only helps spread traditional Chinese medicine culture but also attracts more young consumers.

Therefore, some netizens believe that the fundamental reason Fenbid's cross-industry move this time feels "absurd" is that it forcibly binds together two completely unrelated products.

It is understood that the Shanghai Mall pop-up experience store co-branded by Fenbid and TPLUS Tea House will offer a limited 365 cups of "No White Boil Sweet Tea" per day from November 25 to November 27, and the entire pop-up event will continue until December 8.

Judging from the "passerby photos," the venue features check-in spots such as a cozy little house and an Instagram photo frame. I wonder if you, watching this on screen, would also want to go and check it out?

Image source: Weibo, Fenbid official Xiaohongshu

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.