What the Starbucks Havoc in Heaven Peach Drink Launch Shows
Starbucks started the new year by announcing a collaboration with Shanghai Animation Film Studio's classic animation Havoc in Heaven, releasing peach-flavored coffee drinks tied to the film's Peach Banquet scene. The news revived childhood memories for many Chinese consumers, but some questioned the partnership because the revealed information points to limited-edition drinks only, with no themed packaging or merchandise.
Other brands routinely roll out collaboration cup sleeves, tote bags and cups, so the absence of extras left some netizens calling the effort insincere. Some even noted the limited drinks are hidden menu items that can be ordered early through customization. Using popular IP to raise brand awareness has become standard coffee online news in China, following Luckin's Moutai sauce latte.
At the start of the new year, Starbucks announced a collaboration with Shanghai Animation Film Studio's classic animation "Havoc in Heaven," launching peach-flavored coffee drinks inspired by the "Peach Banquet." This news evoked childhood memories for many netizens, yet some consumers are not buying into this collaboration—because based on the available information, the event seems to offer only limited-edition drinks, lacking themed packaging and merchandise. Compared to other brands that frequently release collaboration cup sleeves, tote bags, and the like, Starbucks' sincerity with this collaboration has been questioned, with some netizens even pointing out that the limited-edition drinks are actually hidden menu items that can be enjoyed in advance through customization services. Whether this collaboration can meet the expectations of "Havoc in Heaven" fans remains to be seen.
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In the coffee industry, leveraging popular IP collaborations to boost brand awareness has become a common strategy. Luckin's collaboration with Moutai to launch the sauce-flavored latte, which successfully broke through the market, is a typical example. For this reason, over the past year, major brands have plunged into the wave of collaborations, making consumers feel almost as if "collaboration events never stop."
Just as the new year began, Starbucks, which has generally been less involved in IP collaboration activities, released new updates, announcing a partnership with Shanghai Animation Film Studio's classic animated film "Havoc in Heaven." From the short film released by Starbucks and the event menu exposed by netizens, the collaboration period will feature peach-flavored coffee drinks related to the "Peach Banquet" scene in the film.
This collaboration stirred up childhood memories for many and sparked widespread interest. However, some netizens were disappointed, because based on the information revealed so far, the event appears to include only limited-edition themed drinks.
Looking at other brands' collaboration practices, they usually introduce limited-edition packaging bags, cup sleeves, etc. during the event period, and some brands also launch eco-friendly tote bags, cups, and other merchandise for sale alongside.
In comparison, although Starbucks has had many standout collaborations, such as those with Blackpink, Disney, and Snoopy, most domestic stores did not participate. A more recent well-known domestic collaboration was with holiday joy ambassador Fei Xiang, but that time the merchandise consisted only of stickers and apple socks, without adopting themed element packaging like other brands.
Since coffee brands began collaborating with popular IPs, besides customers who already bought the brand's drinks, such events also attract a portion of casual consumers who love specific IPs, giving rise to many "buying the casket for the pearl" phenomena.
Therefore, this group of netizens explicitly stated that if Starbucks' collaboration this time has no accompanying merchandise, they will not buy the limited-edition drinks just for the collaboration. "Any collaboration without merchandise is just playing dirty," "Just putting a name on it?" "No collaboration elements on the packaging at all, nothing to look forward to."
Besides the lack of limited-edition merchandise, some netizens believe Starbucks' attitude toward this collaboration is somewhat perfunctory. Because the two drinks on the limited menu are actually Starbucks' hidden menu items, consumers don't need to wait for the event to start—they can drink them in advance through customization services. Some bluntly said, "This doesn't count as a collaboration," "Renaming something and putting it on the menu isn't a collaboration either."
"Havoc in Heaven" is a household-name IP in China, and Sun Wukong can even be called a "top domestic star." Therefore, when learning of this IP's collaboration with Starbucks, it's only natural for netizens to have expectations. Whether Starbucks can respond to the expectations of netizens who love this IP, we can only wait and see.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
