How did the Luckin coffee rose tie-in sell out?

Luckin Coffee launched a co-branded promotion tied to the hit drama "The Tale of Rose," building on the show's yellow rose motif. The chain developed a Yellow Rose Latte and three co-branded items: paper bags, cup sleeves and keychains. Buyers of the two-latte package received a keychain charm, and stores with limited stock sold out, leaving many customers empty-handed.

The promotion climbed onto Weibo's trending list shortly after launch, with some fans setting alarms two hours early to secure merchandise. Luckin reminded customers in comments that stock varies by store and advised confirming availability before ordering. Extra attention came when a keychain posted by lead actress Liu Yifei turned out not to be made by Luckin. Questions of how was coffee made gave way to merchandise demand.

The recent hit drama "The Tale of Rose" has sparked a wave of coffee collaborations. Luckin, inspired by the iconic yellow rose in the show, launched a Yellow Rose Latte along with a matching three-piece set of paper bags, cup sleeves, and keychains. Buying the double-cup package would get you a co-branded keychain, and the news immediately triggered a buying frenzy among drama fans and coffee lovers. However, because each store had extremely limited stock of the merchandise, many consumers came excitedly only to leave empty-handed, with wails of despair filling social media. Even more dramatic, the keychain posted by lead actress Liu Yifei turned out not to be made by Luckin, adding extra buzz to the collaboration. This article takes you through the whole saga of this shopping frenzy.

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Recently, the TV drama "The Tale of Rose" has been a hit, and Luckin Coffee has ridden this collaboration wave.

It is said that in this collaboration with the series, Luckin made the highly symbolic "yellow rose" from the show the core element, not only developing the new "Yellow Rose Latte" but also designing three co-branded merchandise items: paper bags, cup sleeves, and keychains. Consumers who buy the "two Yellow Rose Lattes" package get an extra co-branded keychain charm.

Because of this, even before the event officially launched, it had already drawn the attention of a large number of drama fans, some of whom even set their alarms a full two hours earlier just to grab the merchandise first.

Early yesterday morning, shortly after Luckin launched its promotion, the "Yellow Rose Latte" quickly climbed onto Weibo's trending list. Those early birds who successfully grabbed the keychain naturally showed off their co-branded sets on social media, boasting to their heart's content.

However, regarding the merchandise grab, Luckin also reminded everyone in the comments section: merchandise stock varies from store to store, and some stores may have less inventory, so customers are advised to confirm whether the package with the "free merchandise" is still available before ordering.

As a result, fans who were a bit slower were not so lucky. They had thought it was a sure thing, but still missed out on the merchandise—going happily and returning disappointed.

Many netizens who failed to grab the keychain posted complaints, saying they had already bought the double-cup package online, but when they arrived at the store they were told that the store had only been allocated one co-branded keychain, and it had already been given away, so there were none left.

Others reported that when ordering through the mini-program, they found that the double-cup package including the rose keychain had long shown as sold out, leaving them able to order only single drinks or the yellow rose package without the keychain. They checked every store they could find nearby, and all showed out of stock.

"Luckin, you really do one keychain per store, incredible," "Two cups and I don't even know what the keychain looks like," "No way, two per store???" "Bought 18 cups and still no keychain," "The yellow rose keychain was gone by 8 o'clock" , "The keychain has been completely taken down," "Buy it and it's immediately delisted"...

In fact, besides fans failing to grab the co-branded merchandise, it seems one other person also didn't get Luckin's yellow rose keychain. Just last night, the drama's female lead Liu Yifei posted her latest Weibo, showing photos of herself trying the new coffee and posing with the co-branded merchandise. #LiuYifeiDrankTheYellowRoseLatte# quickly climbed onto the trending list as well, sparking a new round of discussion.

But fans noticed that the yellow rose keychain in the "fairy sister's" hand was not from Luckin, but rather a bonus item from Shiseido, a cosmetics brand that also recently collaborated with the drama. So many fans joked, "So even Liu Yifei herself didn't grab Luckin's keychain," "Liu Yifei, hurry up and give me yours."

According to feedback from store workers, for this collaboration with "The Tale of Rose," most Luckin stores were allocated only 1–2 co-branded keychains, and only a few large stores had 3 or more units of materials in stock. With so many people rushing to buy, getting one came down to hand speed.

Some Luckin employees also posted that, besides the indeed very scarce stock of the most popular rose keychain, for this collaboration their store was also only stocked with one bottle of yellow rose flavor syrup and one box of paper bags. Sales started yesterday morning, and by not even 5 p.m., all collaboration-related products were officially sold out. Materials could be said to be extremely scarce.

For those who truly wanted to get the collaboration merchandise in hand , but unfortunately the stores around them were nowhere to be found with a single piece, fans had no choice but to flock to Luckin's comment section to call out to the official account: Restock quickly! !

Image source: Internet screenshots

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