What does the CHAGEE event cancellation say about coffee culture?

CHAGEE planned an offline event at Changsha IFS with celebrity Lin Yi as its Good Tea Experience Officer on the afternoon of November 29. Because the crowd far exceeded expectations, the event was called off on site and the brand issued an urgent apology. Disappointed fans then moved to a rival tea shop nearby, bringing it an unexpected wave of orders and attention.

The case fits a broader coffee culture pattern: brands lean on celebrity endorsements to draw traffic in crowded markets. Tea and specialty coffee brands alike invite spokespeople to stand out. Here, informal fan channels spread the event details in advance, so people traveled early and waited at the entrance, which shows how fast that traffic can turn against a brand's planning.

At a time when tea beverage brands are competing to invite celebrity endorsements to gain traffic, Chagee had originally planned to hold an offline event at Changsha IFS with celebrity Lin Yi in attendance, but it was temporarily called off because the number of attendees far exceeded expectations. This turn of events not only forced the brand to issue an urgent apology but also triggered a series of chain reactions—a large number of disappointed fans turned to the rival store Sexy Tea near the same IFS, unexpectedly bringing the latter a wave of orders and attention. This article will review the whole incident and analyze the reasons behind and impact of the event's cancellation.

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Nowadays, if tea beverage brands want to stand out in fierce competition, inviting celebrities to serve as spokespersons or experience officers has become a common strategy, using idols' appeal to drive traffic for the brand. Recently, Chagee announced that Lin Yi would serve as the brand's "Good Tea Experience Officer" and previewed that an offline event titled "Tea Fragrance Meets Xiang, Roaming the Star City" would be held in Changsha on the afternoon of November 29.

As soon as the official announcement came out, it immediately sparked heated discussion among fans. Through various unofficial channels, fans learned in advance that the event would be held in front of Changsha IFS, that Lin Yi would appear in person to interact with fans on site, and that he would also give away autographed merchandise.

Because of this, many people did not hesitate to travel long distances and arrive in Changsha early, bringing small stools to stand guard at the entrance of IFS before the event officially began, trying to grab the frontmost positions.

As the news continued to spread within fan circles, more and more passersby gathered in front of Changsha IFS yesterday afternoon. From footage captured by netizens at the scene, even before Chagee's event had started, the area around the booth was already packed so tightly with fans that there was no room to pass, and as far as the eye could see there was nothing but a dense crowd of waiting people.

However, just as the event was about to begin, staff at the scene held up a sign reading "Event Cancelled, Please Leave in an Orderly Manner" to persuade the long-waiting crowd to disperse. Many fans who had come from afar found it hard to accept this fact at first and were still unwilling to leave, until people in the front row said they saw staff beginning to dismantle the booth, and only after verifying through multiple sources that Lin Yi would not appear did the crowd gradually disperse.

The event they had been full of expectations for being abruptly called off by the organizer naturally left many fans furious. They believed that Chagee, as the planner, had clearly underestimated the invited celebrity's appeal, and that choosing the crowded IFS as the event venue directly caused the number of people on site to far exceed capacity, leading to a situation that briefly spiraled out of control and was ultimately halted by the relevant authorities.

To soothe the emotions of fans at the scene, Chagee issued an apology statement that evening regarding the temporary cancellation of the event, explaining that it was "temporarily cancelled due to safety concerns." Lin Yi also explained the situation to the long-waiting fans and expressed his apologies that evening through a recorded video, while also offering certain compensation to fans.

Interestingly, Chagee's choice to set the event location at IFS, where Sexy Tea stores are densely concentrated, may originally have carried an intention to compete with this old rival. But because the event was cancelled for some reason, Chagee not only failed to achieve its original promotional goal, but instead "made wedding clothes for others," delivering a massive wave of traffic to its competitor Sexy Tea.

After learning that the event had been temporarily cancelled, fans at the scene, feeling resentful toward Chagee, switched in droves to placing orders at Sexy Tea near IFS, causing orders at nearby stores to surge. Some netizens also said that when the crowd was evacuating the event site, Sexy Tea across from IFS sent employees to hold sample buckets and offer passersby free trial milk tea.

Users who personally experienced the scene also spontaneously promoted Sexy Tea under Chagee's apology post, sharing the Sexy Tea drinks they had bought, so much so that many people joked, "A massive wave of traffic has been given to Sexy Tea," "Sexy Tea: I don't know either, he suddenly stabbed himself," and laughingly said, "Sexy Tea appears to be the biggest beneficiary after this event was cancelled."

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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