What Happened With the Luckin Coffee Genshin Impact Collab?

Luckin Coffee's Genshin Impact collaboration turned limited cups, paper bags and cup sleeves into collector items, and orders surged on launch day. Many stores ran out of the themed materials by the midpoint of the campaign, so some fans who arrived late received plain branded packaging instead, and a few resorted to searching trash bins for discarded items.

Photos posted by Luckin staff showing stacks of unclaimed merchandise added to the debate about allocation and waste within the chain. Some customers who asked staff for stickers and sleeves said they were refused, while others reported unpleasant exchanges. The episode reflects how limited packaging drives coffee culture fandom, and how uneven stock distribution can turn a promotion into a complaint.

Luckin Coffee's collaboration with the hit game "Genshin Impact" sparked a frenzy among players, with limited-edition packaging cups, paper bags, cup sleeves, and other materials quickly becoming collector's items. However, halfway through the campaign, many stores had already run out of merchandise, leading some fans to dig through trash bins in search of leftovers, and even to unpleasant encounters with staff. Meanwhile, Luckin employees posted photos of large amounts of unclaimed merchandise, triggering discussions about resource allocation and waste. This article will walk you through the supply-demand conflict over this collaboration merchandise, the fans' desperate measures, and the story behind the brand's internal rules.

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Recently, Luckin Coffee's collaboration with the game "Genshin Impact" set off a wave of excitement among players. On the day the campaign launched, orders at some stores surged, and the limited-edition packaging cups, paper bags, cup sleeves, and other items included with drinks quickly became must-have collectibles for fans.

As the campaign passed its halfway point, many stores were running low on the limited-edition materials. Some players who learned about the collaboration late rushed to nearby stores to buy the limited-edition set, only to receive the regular version bearing just the brand logo—much to their disappointment.

So one netizen who failed to get the collaboration merchandise, while wandering around, tried their luck at a nearby trash bin, hoping to find a discarded packaging bag. Unexpectedly, they discovered a stack of unwanted stickers in the bin, and couldn't help but sigh, "The drought-stricken die of thirst, while the flooded drown."

Seeing this fan's "trash-picking" behavior, many gamers and merchandise enthusiasts felt a strong sense of relatability. In their eyes, Luckin's limited-edition Genshin Impact materials were treasures that had to be collected. To get more of these packaging materials, many even overcame their social anxiety and mustered the courage to ask staff for them.

However, according to feedback from some users, the process of asking for the materials was not smooth. Some said that when they and a friend pooled orders for two drinks and asked the staff for a sticker, they were refused. Others said that just for taking an extra cup sleeve, they were given a dirty look by the staff. These unpleasant experiences led some socially anxious fans to pin their hopes on trash bins near the stores, picking up discarded paper bags, stickers, and the like.

Those who also had to resort to trash-picking to meet their needs were players who weren't quick enough online. They lamented that they didn't learn about the campaign in time, and after rushing to several stores once they did, they still couldn't get the merchandise they wanted—which was why they had to turn to the trash bins.

Interestingly, when some gamers posted complaints about not being able to get the limited-edition materials before the campaign ended, many Luckin employees posted photos of unclaimed merchandise in their stores. Employees revealed that although the Luckin-Genshin collaboration generated considerable discussion on social media, aside from game fans, most consumers didn't care about the collaboration IP. The limited-edition materials that merchandise collectors treasured were dispensable to them—naturally leading to what fans perceived as "those who want can't get, and those who get don't cherish."

Based on this, many netizens believed that the materials accumulated at many stores could actually be redistributed, allowing stores facing shortages to give the limited-edition merchandise to users who wanted it but couldn't get it and had to resort to trash-picking. Some also suggested that staff could resell these unwanted materials through secondhand markets to those who wanted them, reducing waste.

However, this suggestion was rejected by the workers. Luckin's internal rules state that if employees resell leftover collaboration sets, they will face dismissal once discovered. Therefore, even though destroying the materials seems like "wasting something precious" to fans, staff can only follow the rules and throw all the scrapped merchandise into the trash.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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