What the Starbucks Disney Collaboration Says About Coffee Merchandise
Starbucks is reported to be collaborating with Disney in mainland China in April, and the reveal disappointed many netizens. The chosen character is Alice from Alice in Wonderland rather than Mickey, Minnie, or LinaBell. The limited-edition mug, a green body with a bright orange handle, was widely criticized for its color scheme and perceived perfunctory design, especially compared with Disney collaborations in other regions.
Starbucks has previously released Disney-limited drinks and merchandise in South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong, which left mainland fans expecting a comparable launch. Because Disney owns a large roster of characters, speculation focused on the most popular ones, and Alice was not among them. Some netizens still hope a later release changes the reception, since merchandise is now a visible element of coffee brand culture.
Recently, news spread on social platforms that Starbucks will collaborate with Disney in April, exciting Starbucks fans in China. Previously, Disney-limited drinks and merchandise in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and other places had mainland consumers eagerly anticipating, and now it finally seems possible. However, the revealed collaboration character was unexpected—not the highly anticipated Mickey and Minnie or LinaBell, but Alice from *Alice in Wonderland*. Even more frustrating for netizens was the design of the limited-edition mug: a green body with a bright orange handle, criticized for its harsh color scheme and perfunctory design. Compared to the exquisite Disney collaboration merchandise in other regions, many expressed disappointment, saying Starbucks is not serious enough about collaborations in the mainland. Some netizens remain cautious, hoping for a later hit that turns things around.
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Recently, news has been circulating on social platforms that Starbucks will collaborate with Disney in April, and netizens were overjoyed upon hearing it. Previously, Starbucks launched Disney-limited drinks and merchandise in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and other places, making domestic Starbucks fans envious, and they had been hoping that mainland Starbucks would also collaborate with Disney—unexpectedly, it has come true!
However, the news did not reveal the specific collaboration partner, leaving expectant netizens guessing which Disney star Starbucks would work with. After all, Disney has countless popular characters, and everyone has their own most desired character for a Starbucks collaboration.
The top candidates were Disney's boss and his wife—Mickey and Minnie. This couple's image is deeply ingrained, and limited merchandise sold in South Korea, Japan, and other regions features these two, so netizens believed their chances were high.
Next is LinaBell, whose popularity has soared in recent years. This pink fox is an IP image released by Shanghai Disney in 2021 and is a female star with many fans. She appeared in Hong Kong Disney's Starbucks limited merchandise, so netizens speculated that if this Starbucks collaboration is a Shanghai Disney exclusive, the candidate LinaBell is quite likely.
Just as netizens were enthusiastically discussing, a staff member revealed that everyone guessed wrong—it is not the highly anticipated Mickey and Minnie or LinaBell, but unexpectedly Alice. This character comes from Disney's classic animated film *Alice in Wonderland* and is one of the well-known Disney characters, but compared to Mickey and Minnie, LinaBell, and others, her popularity is lower, far from being a hot favorite.
Although it is somewhat regrettable that their preferred character was not chosen, netizens could still accept the result. What broke them was the limited-edition mug. From the pictures, the mug printed with Alice's image has an overall green base color, and the handle is a conspicuous bright orange. This color combination gave netizens a strong visual impact, and they exclaimed "ugly."
(Screenshot from social app)
Some netizens believe that although *Alice in Wonderland* is an animated film from the 1950s, it contains many elements such as Alice's blue-and-white color scheme and the iconic decorations on supporting characters that could actually be used in merchandise design. However, the mug in the picture simply prints the character's image on the body, and there are even color flaws at the joint between the handle and the body, making people feel the merchandise designer was perfunctory.
Especially compared to the exquisitely designed Disney collaboration merchandise Starbucks sells in other regions, netizens generally feel that their full expectations have been dashed, complaining that Starbucks is not serious about the collaboration. "Starbucks probably thinks that whatever is designed for the mainland, people will buy it. Starbucks has clearly been perfunctory in the past two years," "Mainland Starbucks has been making mugs ugly for more than a year or two," "The character is fine, but this color scheme..."
Many netizens said that Starbucks' perfunctory merchandise makes them not want to buy, saving them money. But some netizens think it is too early to be disappointed with the Starbucks and Disney collaboration; one mug failing does not mean other unreleased merchandise will also disappoint—what if a hit like the "Spring Mountain Cup" appears later!
Image source: Xiaohongshu
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
