Why did the Luckin Coffee Loopy drink stir a flavor debate?

Luckin Coffee launched an offline collaboration with the cartoon character Loopy, introducing a jasmine light milk tea called Gentle Jasmine plus themed cups, paper bags, cup sleeves, and stickers. Many consumers said the new drink tastes very similar to Chagee's signature Boya Juexian, and the flavor comparison spread quickly on social media.

The chain also invited artist Tan Jianci to endorse its instant products, so the period has been busy on both online and offline fronts. The article sorts out the collaboration details, cup and temperature options, product differences, and market reaction, with notes a coffee enthusiast can use when deciding whether to order the drink.

Luckin Coffee has been making frequent moves lately, inviting Tan Jianci to endorse its instant products while launching an offline collaboration with the cartoon character Loopy. This collaboration introduced a new drink, "Gentle Jasmine" light milk tea, along with multiple themed cups and merchandise, triggering a buying frenzy among fans. However, many consumers pointed out that the flavor of the new product is highly similar to霸王茶姬's signature product Boya Juexian, and the topic of "flavor clash" quickly fermented on social media. This article sorts out the details of the collaboration, product differences, and market reactions, and includes recommendations from Front Street Coffee for coffee enthusiasts' reference.

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Recently, Luckin Coffee's schedule has been packed: online, it invited artist Tan Jianci to endorse its instant products, while offline, it teamed up with "new top female star" Loopy for a collaboration. On one hand, buying a celebrity combo meal comes with a same-style coffee cup; on the other, purchasing new products comes with adorable merchandise. Luckin's move seems poised to "empty out" fans' wallets.

You may still be unfamiliar with the name Loopy, but you've likely seen its appearance in chat windows: a little beaver with pink cheeks, a round chubby face, a playful cowlick, and its signature little rabbit teeth.

Despite its soft and cute appearance, Loopy has won countless fans with its "crazy anywhere" fan-made memes, becoming the internet "mouthpiece" for many office workers and fragile college students. Sending a Loopy meme in a chat says it all.

If you're a fan of Loopy, today is definitely a big day—Luckin has finally officially collaborated with this rising meme star. That means on this workday, you can not only enjoy the celebrity's same-style special drink but also collect various items featuring the little beaver Loopy.

According to Luckin's official announcement, this collaboration will launch a light milk tea called "Gentle Jasmine," and depending on the order combination, customers will receive Loopy-themed merchandise such as collaboration cups, paper bags, cup sleeves, and stickers.

Although only one drink is being launched this time, based on the difference between the light coffee version and the classic version, cup sizes, and hot versus cold drinks, five different collaboration-themed cups will be used, including three milk tea-specific cups and two event cups.

In other words, during the collaboration period, Luckin staff must memorize the recipes for each new product, find the corresponding collaboration cup for each recipe, and assemble all the small merchandise items according to orders. This series of complex tasks has store partners exclaiming that their heads are spinning.

Besides the dazzling variety of collaboration cups, the taste of Luckin's new product has also drawn attention for being remarkably similar to another brand's hit milk tea. Perhaps both use jasmine floral notes as a base, blended with milk to make milk tea. After drinking Luckin's new product, many people felt it "clashed" with霸王茶姬's classic product Boya Juexian.

On social media, although the items people ordered may differ slightly, they unanimously expressed the same sentiment: too similar! "Tried Gentle Jasmine, isn't this just a霸王茶姬 dupe?" "Cute on the outside,霸王茶姬 on the inside." "This is a replica of Boya Juexian." "Isn't this just Boya Juexian?"

From this, it can be roughly judged that this new product is likely Luckin's first move into the milk tea arena, and future launches will probably shift from flavored coffee to milk tea or fruit tea categories that are more easily accepted by the general public. As for why Luckin's new product "resembles"霸王茶姬's signature flavor, we can only wait for an official explanation.

Image source: Internet screenshot

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