Is absolute coffee branding behind the Disney crossover?
Starbucks launches its second Disney collaboration on January 15, with Mickey and Minnie as the campaign characters. Alongside the usual mugs and plush toys, the line includes red envelopes, omamori charms and wooden bwa bwei blocks printed with the brand logo. The divination blocks, common in Fujian and Guangdong, drew the most discussion online.
The crossover lands around the New Year, which makes red envelopes and omamori charms feel seasonal, while bwa bwei blocks are a tool for consulting gods or ancestors at temples and halls. Reaction has been mixed, with many saying the pairing of everyday ritual objects and absolute coffee branding is unexpected. Front Street Coffee continues to follow the brand strategy behind the collaboration.
Starbucks' second collaboration with Disney is set to launch on January 15, featuring Mickey and Minnie as the campaign's main characters. In addition to the usual merchandise such as mugs and plush toys, the brand has also released red envelopes, omamori charms, and wooden divination blocks (bwa bwei) printed with the brand logo, sparking lively discussion among netizens. The appearance of bwa bwei—a common divination tool in the Fujian and Guangdong regions—in a coffee brand collaboration has left many people marveling at the unusual pairing. This article will walk you through the specific merchandise of this collaboration, the cultural background of bwa bwei, and the amusing reactions from netizens. Meanwhile, Front Street Coffee will continue to follow the brand strategy behind this crossover attempt.
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Recently, Starbucks announced through official channels that it is teaming up with Disney once again, with the collaboration set to launch on January 15. As soon as the news broke, it immediately attracted widespread attention among fans.
According to promotional posters shared by insiders, this second Starbucks and Disney collaboration features classic characters Mickey and Minnie as the campaign's main stars, and will release themed mugs, plush toys, and other products incorporating Mickey Mouse elements. However, beyond these常规 merchandise, in real-life photos posted by Starbucks staff, some netizens noticed that the brand has also prepared some unexpected items—red envelopes, omamori charms, and wooden bwa bwei, all printed with the brand logo.
Many people admitted that when they saw the red envelopes, omamori charms, and bwa bwei, they found it hard to believe even with the physical items in front of them, seeing these everyday-life objects mixed together with Starbucks and Disney. Some said that since the collaboration coincides with the New Year, it makes sense for the brand to release red envelopes and omamori charms, but the appearance of bwa bwei is truly unexpected.
As for bwa bwei, friends from Fujian, Guangdong, and other regions may be quite familiar with them. In some temples and ancestral halls, you can often see worshippers holding two crescent-shaped wooden blocks and tossing them to the ground to consult the gods or ancestors. To outsiders, this behavior may seem somewhat strange, but it is actually a divination ritual known locally as "throwing bwa bwei."
It is understood that after the bwa bwei land, they typically show three results: one yin and one yang is called a "sacred bwei," two yang sides is called a "laughing bwei," and two yin sides is called a "yin bwei." If worshippers want their wishes to go smoothly, they need to throw three consecutive "sacred bwei" in front of the gods or ancestors to signify approval. Therefore, compared to traditional fortune-telling and hexagram casting, the bwa bwei divination method is simple and easy to learn, making it quite popular among young people.
However, when bwa bwei with their mystical connotations appear among Starbucks and Disney collaboration merchandise, many netizens expressed that the combination is simply too bizarre: "It's rare to use 'ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign' to describe something...", "This is just too going native," "What's in Mickey Mouse's cup isn't coffee, it's alcohol—you'd have to be drunk to come up with this combination," "How on earth are these three connected?", "An absolutely niche faith collaboration."
Beyond the surprise, this pair of bwa bwei printed with the Starbucks logo also prompted some netizens to joke that now before drinking coffee, one might need to pick up the bwa bwei and cast a divination to see whether today is suitable for an Americano or a latte. Meanwhile, users in Fujian, Guangdong, and other regions, upon seeing this familiar object, could hardly contain their excitement, saying that as soon as the new products launch, they absolutely must get their hands on them.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Starbucks has embraced mysterious Eastern forces. Previously, the brand released a wooden fish ornament, which drew a rush of mystical enthusiasts. In this collaboration, the brand has designed the niche bwa bwei as merchandise, which has indeed given many users quite a shock, but at the same time, many believe it is a novel and unique attempt that may help more people learn about the simple and fun divination method of throwing bwa bwei.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
