Does the Luckin Coffee Scratch Card Reveal Prizes to Staff?

Luckin Coffee's final 2024 co-branding campaign with Chu's Agriculture includes a New Joy Orange Scratch Card in designated bundles, with prizes of 500 free 99-cup vouchers, 2,000 free 66-cup vouchers, and 100,000 free 1-cup vouchers, plus a 5.2-discount coupon for everyone else. Consumers found that holding the unscratched card up to a phone flashlight makes the hidden text faintly readable.

The discovery raised questions about fairness, with some users worried store employees could identify big prizes before customers scratch the cards. Luckin staff denied the speculation. The promotion followed last year's scratch-off stickers, and the coffee industry continues to watch how such campaigns are run and how transparent the prize process is for buyers.

Luckin Coffee recently launched its final co-branding campaign of 2024, teaming up with Chu's Agriculture to bring an improved version of the Chu Orange Latte and a series of merchandise, with a "New Joy Orange Scratch Card" included in designated bundles. The prizes are quite generous, including 500 free 99-cup coffee vouchers, 2,000 free 66-cup coffee vouchers, and 100,000 free 1-cup coffee vouchers. Those who don't win can still get a 5.2-discount drink coupon. However, many consumers discovered that simply holding the unscratched back of the card up to a phone flashlight allows the text beneath the coating to be faintly seen through the light, revealing the prize without scratching. This discovery sparked widespread discussion about the fairness of the campaign, with some users worried that store employees might use this to pick out the big prizes in advance, while Luckin employees came forward to deny such speculation. Front Street Coffee continues to follow coffee industry developments and brings you the latest news.

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Not long ago, Luckin kicked off its final co-branding campaign of 2024, collaborating with Chu's Agriculture to launch an improved version of the Chu Orange Latte and accompanying merchandise. During the campaign, the brand included a "New Joy Orange Scratch Card" in designated bundles, intended to deliver users their first bit of good luck for the New Year.

Compared with last year's scratch-off stickers, the prize setup for this scratch card is clearly more attractive. According to official information, the prizes include 500 "99 free cups of coffee," 2,000 "66 free cups of coffee," and 100,000 "1 free cup of coffee." Even if participants don't scratch out these big prizes, they can still receive a 5.2-discount drink coupon.

After the campaign launched, a large number of fans were enthusiastic, eager to reveal their prizes as soon as they got a scratch card, hoping to be the one struck by luck rather than just along for the ride.

However, many consumers noticed after receiving the cards that this scratch card carrying big prizes could actually reveal its contents without being scratched. Besides some people posting cards with printing abnormalities, other netizens discovered that by pressing the unscratched back of the card against a phone flashlight, the principle of light transmission allows the faint writing beneath the coating to be seen.

Once the news spread, many users holding Luckin scratch cards rushed to verify it themselves. Quite a few reported that even if the plastic sealed bag around the card had not been opened, the same method could still be used to learn in advance whether the card contained good luck or a consolation prize.

However, faced with this somewhat roughly made scratch card, some consumers began to question the fairness of the campaign. They argued that if simply holding a flashlight against the back of the card can expose the prize, then store employees would also be able to check the details of scratch cards in their stores and take the big prizes first.

Several comments in the comment section also amplified this doubt invisibly, with remarks appearing frequently such as "I just checked all the ones in the store, all three packs were 5.2 discounts," "I buy every day, the guy recognizes me, he checked all the ones in the store in the morning, the biggest was one cup, and he just gave it to me," and "I saw the staff member using a flashlight to check them."

Many customers worried that if Luckin's scratch cards are so easy to see through, it would be hard to avoid employees picking out the big prizes separately and reselling them on second-hand platforms for profit.

In the face of these suspicions, some Luckin employees showed up in the comments to dispel the rumors. They said that after joining a Luckin store, they already enjoy employee benefits and can drink beverages in the store during work hours, so there is no need to withhold benefits the company gives to users. Another staff member mentioned that whenever Luckin launches a new campaign, the store is extremely busy, and once things get hectic there is simply no time to care about campaign prizes—they just hand out cards casually.

Although Luckin workers repeatedly cried foul, consumers who value the campaign experience still felt dissatisfied. They pointed out that last year's scratch-off stickers had exactly the same problem, and they hadn't expected that a year later, Luckin's scratch-off campaign would still be the same, with plenty of room for cheating.

In users' view, this kind of luck-based lottery campaign should never leave room for opportunistic tricks; only then can fairness be ensured and every participant experience the surprise of suddenly winning.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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