How did the Luckin Coffee cup sleeve typo unfold?

Luckin Coffee's co-branding campaign with the film Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force ran into a printing error before launch. A cup sleeve that should have read Xiqi carried the wrong character, and the mistake spread quickly on social media. With the Spring Festival factory and logistics shutdowns and the film's release schedule, a reprint was nearly impossible, so Luckin Coffee appeared to keep selling the sleeves as printed.

The collaboration was set to launch on January 27 with a pistachio latte and themed cup sleeves, paper bags and merchandise. Netizens called on Luckin Coffee to recall and reprint the sleeves, but photos later shared by employees showed the misspelled versions still in circulation. The episode has become a talking point for brands reviewing their merchandise and co-branding checks.

Luckin Coffee's co-branding collaboration with the mythological film "Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force" had not even officially launched when a typo on the cup sleeve sparked widespread attention. The cup sleeve, which should have borne the characters "西岐" (Xiqi), was mistakenly printed as "西崎" (Xiqi), and this error quickly went viral on social media. Netizens flocked online to call out Luckin Coffee officially, hoping for a prompt recall and reprint. However, given the approaching Spring Festival, factory and logistics shutdowns, and the film's release schedule, a reprint was nearly impossible. Ultimately, based on new merchandise photos shared by employees, Luckin Coffee seemed to choose to let the mistake stand and continue selling these misspelled cup sleeves. This article will take you through the entire sequence of events and also look at how brands like Front Street Coffee have performed with their co-branded merchandise.

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Since last weekend, a new co-branding teaser has been appearing on social media: Luckin Coffee is about to collaborate with the mythological film "Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force" to launch a new pistachio latte, along with themed cup sleeves, paper bags, and other merchandise, scheduled for release on January 27.

Less than two days after the news broke, Luckin Coffee's co-branding update spread rapidly with reposts, gaining continuous exposure. Many movie fans were full of anticipation, leaving comments and preparing to place orders as soon as they dropped.

According to disclosures, the co-branded cup sleeves Luckin Coffee released in advance featured images of the film's main characters, as well as two key place names from the story: one read "殷商" (Yin Shang), and the other was supposed to be "西岐" (Xiqi). However, before long, sharp-eyed netizens noticed that the character "岐" on the cup sleeve had been mistakenly typed as "崎," turning "西岐" into "西崎," completely at odds with the intended meaning.

For a moment, it was hard to tell whether this was the film side's problem or an oversight by Luckin Coffee's planning department. It was possible the designer made the mistake from the start, or that the materials provided during handover were incorrect, or that the reviewers simply didn't check carefully. But logically, everyone in the entire process should have verified it, and yet such an obvious typo still made it into the final printed product—even going unnoticed during the promotional phase—so all those involved would be hard-pressed to escape blame.

Although the brand's blunder was significant, with nearly a week to go before the official launch, the various materials should not yet have been delivered to stores, so perhaps there was still room for remedy. So netizens began tagging Luckin Coffee online, urging the company to recall and reprint as soon as possible:

"Rui-zi! Isn't the character wrong?!" "I'll wait until you fix it before buying." "Fix it quickly, or all your materials will be wasted." "Such a big typo! Is it 西岐 or 西崎???" "This is ridiculous. I don't want to be called illiterate—hurry up and fix it." "The character is wrong, hurry and recall and reprint overnight." … Just like that, what should have been a new co-branding "celebration party" to spread the word turned into a massive typo-correction scene, with some even going directly to Luckin Coffee's latest post, "What is the office doing before the holiday," to leave comments—worrying themselves sick over it.

In response, some pointed out that the "rescue plans" proposed by netizens were actually difficult to carry out. You see, the film is scheduled for release on the first day of the Lunar New Year. If Luckin Coffee were to reprint the cup sleeves now and then ship them to stores, it would likely be well after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Moreover, with Spring Festival approaching ever closer, factories and logistics companies are likely gradually shutting down for the holiday, making it even less feasible to launch on time. So there would be only two outcomes: either let the mistake stand and release this batch of cup sleeves as usual, or recall and destroy them outright, releasing only the other merchandise.

Sure enough, a post in which an employee couldn't resist "showing off" the new merchandise immediately confirmed the netizens' prediction above.

From the photos taken on-site this morning by this worker, one can see that the misspelled "崎" on the cup sleeve remains unchanged, showing that Luckin Coffee does not intend to reprint, nor does it plan to recall, but instead chooses to continue selling them.

Image source: Internet screenshot

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