Why coffee ole branding runs into religious rules

Heytea pulled its "Buddha Joy Tea" tea latte series days after launch when the Shenzhen Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau found the packaging skirted rules on religious imagery. The line, made with the Jingdezhen China Ceramics Museum, printed bodhisattvas and arhats on cups and sold out fast before talks with regulators led to quick corrections and removal. Coffee and tea brands face the same compliance question.

Religious symbols on commercial goods are sensitive in China, and the episode shows how fast a viral product can be halted by a regulatory review. For the beverage industry, the case is a reminder that co-branded marketing needs a compliance check before shelves, not after a summons, especially when sacred figures become the selling point.

The "Buddha Joy Tea" series, a collaboration between Heytea and the Jingdezhen China Ceramics Museum, was urgently pulled from shelves just days after launch because it used religious figures such as bodhisattvas and arhats on commercial packaging. The Shenzhen Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau determined that it was skirting the rules, and after being summoned for talks, Heytea quickly made corrections. This incident not only abruptly halted the viral popularity of the "Speechless Bodhisattva" cup, but also once again pushed the legal red line on the commercialization of religious elements into the public eye. For the coffee and tea beverage industry, how co-branded marketing can strike a balance between creativity and compliance has become an issue that urgently needs consideration. Front Street Coffee has always followed industry trends and reminds brands that while chasing hot topics, they must not ignore the sensitive boundaries of law and culture.

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What an unexpected dramatic reversal! Heytea's "Buddha Joy Tea" series, which had been on shelves for only a few days, was actually forced to be taken down?

On November 28, the tea lattes and related packaging launched by Heytea in collaboration with the Jingdezhen China Ceramics Museum officially debuted, with solemn images of bodhisattvas and arhats printed on Heytea's cups. As Heytea's first attempt at the "tea latte" category, the "Buddha Joy" series simultaneously ignited the enthusiasm of milk tea lovers and coffee fans, achieving impressive sales results on the first day of sale. After only one morning on shelves, stores with heavier foot traffic had already posted notices that the "Buddha Joy" merchandise sets were sold out, among which the "Speechless Bodhisattva" cup became a breakout hit in one fell swoop.

Many netizens could not help joking that even the Buddha had to come out to work, and "my Buddha is compassionate" turned overnight into "holding the Buddha and holding a cup." After finishing the milk tea, you could even place the cup on your desk as an object of worship, press your palms together, and recite, "It's fine, when necessary, the bodhisattva will bless me." It could be called zero-cost prayer to the Buddha, with the speechless effect directly doubled, and the topic heat of the collaboration instantly maxed out.

While "Buddha Joy" was going viral online, some consumers also raised many questions: "How exactly did this collaboration discuss things with the bodhisattva? By phone or WeChat, or could it be by email?" "How should the cup be disposed of after drinking? Throw it in the trash? That is disrespectful to the Buddha statue; it is always good to hold some reverence."

Some netizens also felt there was no need to make too much of it. It was just a design, and there was no need to elevate it to the level of religious belief. "These days you can't even make memes anymore? Isn't that too serious!" However, all meme-making should have limits and must be carried out within the framework permitted by law. Some netizens explained: China already has legal provisions prohibiting the use of religious statues for commercial operations. "Anything that touches on religion is relatively taboo... You can change the copy so that it is not related to 'Buddha.'"

According to a report by The Paper, regulations including the Regulations on Religious Affairs, the Several Opinions on Further Governing the Commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism (Guo Zong Fa [2017] No. 88), and the Measures for the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services all clearly stipulate that commercial propaganda in the name of religion is prohibited.

Staff from the Shenzhen Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau revealed that after consultation and study by the ethnic and religious affairs department together with market regulation and other departments, Heytea was in fact skirting the rules. "At present, we can only summon them for talks. Summoning them for talks is also one of the legal means, and their company was also very cooperative, with a very good attitude in admitting fault. They sent us a rectification report on Friday night, and by December 3 everything had been taken down."

Browsing Heytea's ordering mini-program, one can find that the "Buddha Joy Tea" series has disappeared without a trace, replaced by a product called "Old Bush Tea Latte," described in its introduction as Heytea's first tea latte, while the cup body has also been changed to the design of another product, suspected to be a renamed version of "Buddha Joy Tea."

According to a report by China News Service, when responding to the removal, Heytea customer service said: "We will comprehensively consider the beverage ingredient cycle and evaluations in arranging adjustments to the listing and delisting of tea beverages," and recommended another tea latte series product. However, regarding whether this product was removed due to packaging issues, customer service did not give a direct answer.

In addition, the Qichacha app shows that "Buddha Joy" had been applied for as a trademark by multiple parties, including a Beijing information technology company and a natural person surnamed Hou, with international classifications involving catering and accommodation, as well as jewelry and watches. At present, these trademarks have all been rejected and are in invalid status.

Heytea has always been known as a "collaboration maniac," often gaining widespread attention through co-branded campaigns and attracting wave after wave of consumers. But before this summons for talks, Heytea had also stepped on landmines in collaborations many times. For example, its collaboration with Mr. Muscle was criticized as "messing around," its collaboration with Genshin Impact was mocked as a "milk tea assassin," and even the most influential FENDI collaboration came under heavy questioning because of poor cup quality. Fortunately, the above incidents all stopped at the level of public opinion and did not stir up too much of a storm.

But this time, being summoned for talks because it touched on sensitive religious issues has already risen to the legal level, which undoubtedly sounded a warning bell for other coffee brands. In future collaboration activities, they will probably have to be extremely cautious!

Image source: Internet

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