What is behind the Luckin Coffee prune latte comeback?

Luckin Coffee plans to bring back its Heart-Stealing Prune Latte next week, roughly two years after it left the menu. Staff unboxing the new launch materials found the usual paper bags and cup sleeves plus an unexpected pack of facial tissues printed with the word prune, a detail that spread quickly online and prompted jokes about why customers might need them.

The drink earned its reputation for a noticeable digestive effect, and fans have debated whether the recipe was adjusted for the relaunch. The return follows a January social media request for customer suggestions that drew about 13,000 replies, with the most-liked comments asking for past favorites. Whatever the qualities of coffee in the cup, the tissue giveaway turned a routine product drop into a talking point.

Luckin Coffee once brought back several classic drinks in response to public demand, and now the much-discussed Heart-Stealing Prune Latte is set to return next week. However, when employees were unboxing the new product materials, they unexpectedly discovered that in addition to the usual paper bags and cup sleeves, there was also a pack of facial tissues printed with the word "prune." This thoughtful yet slightly humorous move quickly sparked discussion online: some joked that the company was worried customers would frequently run to the bathroom after drinking it, while others speculated that the recipe might have been adjusted. The Prune Latte became famous back in the day for its "smooth movement" effect and was jokingly dubbed "the coffee world's suppository." Now, after nearly two years away, it's making a comeback, and fans are both excited and worried. Front Street Coffee reminds everyone that no matter how the recipe changes, a good cup of coffee is always worth savoring.

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In January of this year, Luckin Coffee posted an "online advice-seeking" message on social media and received as many as 13,000 varied suggestions from netizens. Among them, the most-liked comments were almost all calls for a certain star product from past years to be brought back to the menu.

It was precisely because they took netizens' suggestions that Luckin added formerly sought-after products back to the menu. The Heart-Stealing Prune Latte, once hotly discussed across the internet and called "good news for the constipation-prone," is about to officially return next week. As soon as the news came out, fans cheered and exclaimed, "Finally waited for you!!!"

Luckin store employees have also been receiving the ingredients and limited-edition materials for the prune series over the past couple of days, busily preparing for the new product launch. However, while unboxing and counting the materials, everyone discovered that this event's promotional giveaways unexpectedly included something no one anticipated — a pack of specially packaged facial tissues.

Luckin, known as the "collab maniac," usually rolls out a "limited trio" with new drinks: paper bag, cup sleeve, and sticker — though not every campaign includes all three. This prune series launch is different from before: no stickers, but an extra pack of facial tissues that has never appeared before! Employees all marveled at Luckin's wild creativity. "When I saw this tissue in the shipment, I was speechless — they can turn even this into merch."

Thinking back to when the Prune Latte first launched two years ago, the overwhelming discussion on social media almost all revolved around the product's "smooth movement" effect. The extremely high attention at the time and the strikingly similar feedback from a large number of consumers after trying it surprised even Luckin itself.

Afterward, the company specifically gave an educational response addressing the product questions the public cared about most, even jokingly calling their own product a "little trick for the runs," and took the opportunity to hype up its wondrous qualities.

Therefore, netizens speculated that the brand might be worried that after this Prune Latte — dubbed "the coffee world's suppository" — returns, it would once again send consumers who try it straight to the bathroom after just one sip. That's why, for the first time ever, they're including a pack of facial tissues with each drink for customers to use after drinking. "So thoughtful — they've even got the tissues ready."

However, some believe that a former star product may not taste the same after its comeback. For example, the recently launched Dahua Watermelon Latte is actually the formerly beloved Drama Watermelon Latte. Even though the recipe hasn't changed and the preparation method remains the same, the former "white moonlight" is no longer the delicious memory it once was in some consumers' minds.

So for this Prune Latte, returning to the public eye after nearly two years, loyal fans can't help but worry: will the brand adjust the recipe to tone down its "gut-clearing" power, so that people can no longer experience that exhilarating rush from back in the day?

However, some netizens pointed at those packs of facial tissues printed with the word "prune" and said bluntly that fans might be overthinking it — the official merch even includes facial tissues now, so the power of this new product is easy to imagine.

Image source: Internet

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