Old Instant Coffee Brands and the Nostalgia That Still Sells

Mstand's Children's Day promotion offered a free retro handheld game console with a limited-edition set meal, and the rush of adult buyers crashed the ordering mini-program. The console comes with ten built-in games, including Contra and Tetris, which triggered childhood memories for many customers. Pre-orders let some buyers secure the set before the system failed, while others were left staring at a crash page.

Buyers later found the games were not officially licensed, the graphics were rough, and a few minutes of play caused eye discomfort. The episode shows how nostalgia marketing turns childhood sentiment into spending, yet electronic toys cannot restore the joy of earlier years. It also echoes the pull of old instant coffee brands and other retro products that rely on memory rather than quality.

On the eve of Children's Day, Mstand launched a promotion offering a retro handheld game console with the purchase of a limited-edition set meal, attracting a large number of adult consumers to snap it up, which caused the ordering mini-program to crash. This console comes with ten classic games built in, including Contra and Tetris, evoking childhood memories for many. However, some consumers discovered that the games are not officially licensed, the graphics are rough, and just a few minutes of play caused eye discomfort. Businesses use nostalgia to attract grown-up kids to spend, but after the impulsive sentiment fades, electronic toys ultimately cannot truly bring back the joy of times gone by. This article sorts through the whole incident and brings related recommendations from Front Street Coffee.

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May is about to come to an end, which means the laughter-filled Children's Day is just around the corner.

This holiday that belongs to children has traditionally been dominated by brands closely tied to children's preferences, such as KFC and McDonald's. But Mstand, which is keen on releasing all kinds of merchandise, this time turned its gaze to grown-up kids, preparing a Children's Day gift that strikes straight at the heart for adults who still harbor childlike innocence—a game console.

According to official promotion, during the event period, purchasing the limited-edition set meal would come with a free retro handheld game console. Seeing this thoroughly old-school game console, many grown-up kids exclaimed that they had traveled back in time, and the happy memories of childhood days spent playing games on a Subor learning console were instantly awakened. To get the console as quickly as possible, users rushed to open the mini-program to snap it up after the event launched—unexpectedly, this enthusiasm actually crashed the mini-program!

"Mstand's game console crashed the mini-program," "Mstand's system crashed—who on earth managed to buy it?" Those who failed to grab the coveted console stared anxiously at the crash page, while more experienced people had already secured this Children's Day gift through pre-orders, sipping coffee and slacking off at work while playing games.

It is understood that this console has ten classic games built in, including Contra, Tetris, and Super Tank, with an interface featuring the color screen remembered from childhood. As the familiar background music plays, the nostalgic feeling instantly maxes out.

However, netizens who got their hands on it and played a few rounds discovered that these games are not officially licensed by the game publishers—"they're all DIY versions; Contra isn't Contra, and Tetris isn't Tetris." In addition, the game screen is small and the colors are numerous and cluttered, to the point that some players' eyes could hardly take it after just five minutes of trying it out.

In recent years, during Children's Day, businesses have bundled handheld game consoles with limited-edition products to attract the attention of game-loving children, getting parents to buy them to satisfy their kids' holiday needs.

Unexpectedly, among those who actually bought the game console set meal, some are adults who have no children and simply want to spend for their own childhood. Whether to make up for past regrets or to relive former joys, as soon as they see a game console they once wanted to play but couldn't buy, they are involuntarily drawn in, spending on the set meal regardless of cost just for a handheld console to reminisce about the past.

Businesses have also noticed the innocence deep in the hearts of grown-up kids, seizing the moment to play the nostalgia card with handheld game consoles and childhood animation collaborations, reeling in a group of consumers who miss the past, making them unable to resist wanting the free gift as soon as they see related promotions.

It's just that the sentiment stirred up by the nostalgia trend can only lead people to impulsive consumption. Once consumers regain their rationality, they will realize that no matter how retro the console is made or how much the game interface is crafted to look like what's in their memories, these electronic toys cannot truly take people back to those lost happy times.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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