When was the first McCafe opened and where: a coffee promotion draws long queues
Manner stores in seven Chinese cities drew queues of several hundred meters before dawn on a cold winter weekend. Customers who bought the new coffee received a 9ml Jo Malone perfume and a Christmas badge at Gingerbread Man themed shops in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou and others. At the Shanghai Xuhui Riverside store, the line reached about 300 people by the 9 AM opening.
The offer ran for only two days, which pushed early arrivals to set alarms as early as 5:30 AM to hold a place at the front. Some waited two to three hours in near-freezing wind. The giveaway combined a limited-edition scent with a seasonal drink, so the value of the gift, not the coffee alone, drove the turnout.
On a chilly weekend morning, when one should be curled up under the covers sleeping in until naturally waking, long queues of several hundred meters had already formed outside Manner stores in multiple cities across the country before dawn. Seven "Gingerbread Man" themed stores in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and others attracted a large number of young people to get up early and brave the cold by offering a 9ml Jo Malone perfume and a Christmas badge with the purchase of the new coffee. The queue at the Shanghai Xuhui Riverside store was the most spectacular—some people got up at 6 AM, arrived by 7, and by the time the store opened at 9, the line had already reached number 300. What exactly is the magic of this collaboration that makes young people willing to wait two to three hours in the freezing 0-degree wind? Let's find out.
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The first day of the weekend, coinciding with a bone-chilling winter day, should have been a great time to stay in bed until noon. But today, outside Manner stores in multiple cities across the country, hundreds of meters of queues had already formed just as the sky was brightening. What exactly is the attraction that makes these young people willing to leave their warm beds and voluntarily get up to brave the cold wind?
According to netizens who visited the scene, the queueing frenzy was concentrated at seven Manner Gingerbread Man themed stores in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and others, with the goal of checking in and buying Manner's new coffee to receive a limited-edition complimentary 9ml Jo Malone perfume and a Christmas badge. The event is only for today and tomorrow.
Among them, the most spectacular queue was undoubtedly at the Shanghai Xuhui Riverside store, where under the sunlight, the orderly flow of people intertwined with the river view to form a unique winter scene. According to some early arrivals who "reported in," they got up at 6 AM, arrived on-site around 7, and patiently waited for the Manner staff to start work. By the time the store opened at 9, the queue had already reached around number 300.
Of course, other "squads" were equally unwilling to fall behind—a 5:30 alarm barely secured the "head of the line" position to ensure getting the perfume. After opening, streams of young people kept coming, shivering in the cold wind.
Interestingly, a netizen busy queueing at the Tongren Road Manner store unexpectedly ran into celebrity Jin Au-Yeung (MC Jin). After asking if a photo was possible, the reply was: "Sure, but first ask why people are queueing here." Besides attracting celebrity attention, some people in the queue even "got into arguments" because there weren't enough giveaways, making the scene quite lively.
You should know that this morning in Beijing, the outdoor feels-like temperature was as low as 0 degrees, and Shanghai and Hangzhou were around 5 degrees. For this small bottle of Manner perfume sample, everyone didn't hesitate to set alarms and get up early on a weekend, bundling up in down jackets, knit sweaters, wool hats, scarves, and other winter gear to go out. To ward off the cold, some stomped their feet and shook their legs, some breathed on their hands to warm them, and others huddled together for warmth; when tired of standing, some even sat directly on their carry-on suitcases... Compared to going to work, these young people are much more enthusiastic about getting freebies!
Thinking back to Monday, Manner Coffee officially announced a collaboration with the perfume brand Jo Malone, launching a winter-limited "Caramel Cocoa Latte." During the event, ordering the new drink would get you a Jo Malone perfume gift bag containing a random 1.5ml perfume sample, for a total of 150,000 bags. Then on the 13th, as soon as the perfume giveaway went live, it was so popular that the mini-program experienced network delays and couldn't open properly.
This time, the offline queueing spectacle was mainly triggered because the Jo Malone perfume being given away was 9ml, much larger than the previous samples. Perhaps it also happened to be the weekend, when everyone had more free time, so they were willing to get up early and wait two to three hours in the cold wind for the giveaway. If nothing unexpected happens, with the enthusiastic cooperation of the "freebie hunters," tomorrow will likely be the same spectacular scene!!
Image source: Internet
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
