What does the tea-making boy band controversy reveal about brewing coffee with milk?

Xiangpiaopiao opened a physical milk tea shop on Chunxi Road in Chengdu and used a tea-making boy band as its draw, recruiting men over 180cm and selecting 12 from 27 candidates by social media votes. Opening day drew long lines. Consumers later questioned the drinks, which rely mainly on tea bags and juice mixed with hot water.

Other complaints included slow production with waits up to half an hour and photographers moving through the bar area without masks or hats. Xiangpiaopiao had used a similar strategy at a Hangzhou pop-up near West Lake. The case shows how marketing and staff presentation can outrun drink quality, a gap that matters for brewing coffee with milk or any cafe operation.

The physical milk tea shop opened by Xiangpiaopiao on Chunxi Road in Chengdu has recently become a hot topic. The brand used a "tea-making boy band" as its selling point, recruiting male staff over 180 cm tall with good looks and presence, and held a social media vote for 27 candidates, ultimately selecting 12 to work in the store. On opening day, long lines formed outside the shop. The boy band members were responsible for packing orders and interacting with customers for photos, providing emotional value. However, some consumers pointed out that the drinks in the store are still mainly tea bags and juice mixed with hot water, which differs from mainstream freshly made tea drinks; the drink production efficiency is low, with wait times of up to half an hour, and photographers and other non-operational personnel were seen moving around the bar area taking photos without wearing masks or hats, raising questions about food hygiene. Xiangpiaopiao had previously adopted a similar strategy of using good-looking staff at its pop-up store by West Lake in Hangzhou, and this operation is seen as a continuation and upgrade of that marketing approach.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

Recently, the Xiangpiaopiao physical milk tea shop on Chunxi Road in Chengdu has sparked a great deal of discussion on social media.

As early as early March, Xiangpiaopiao set up a hoarding at a selected spot in that commercial district and publicly posted recruitment information for milk tea shop employees. According to job screenshots saved by netizens, the hourly wage for the position was between 100 and 200 yuan. In addition to requiring familiarity with the milk tea-making process and other basic skills, it also stated that applicants must be "aged 18 or above, flight attendant majors preferred, with regular features, good looks and presence, and height above 180 cm."

Afterward, the brand's official social media account successively released promotional posters for 27 "tea-making boy band" candidates. After multiple rounds of buildup, 12 staff members were ultimately selected based on the number of likes.

This highly topical promotional approach made many passersby curious about Xiangpiaopiao's physical store. After the new store opened, many local residents went to check it out, wanting both to taste drinks produced by the "grandfather of milk tea" and to see the officially promoted "tea-making boy band" in person.

From photos taken by customers on site, on the first day of opening, a long line formed in front of the Xiangpiaopiao milk tea shop, and more than ten staff members behind the counter were busy preparing drinks at the same time. The "boy band members" were mainly responsible for packing orders and interacting and taking photos with customers who had come specifically for them, creating emotional value for the guests.

However, some consumers who care more about the product itself raised criticism. They pointed out that the milk tea, fruit tea, and other drinks sold in the store were all made by staff mixing them with hot water and juice, which is clearly different from how most freshly made tea drinks on the market are prepared today. Moreover, although there were quite a few employees standing behind the counter, judging by their oper ating proficiency, some staff were clearly inexperienced. For a simple cup of "hot water steeped tea bag" style milk tea, customers had to wait about half an hour after ordering to receive it.

In addition, some customers reported that in the bar area, besides the staff making drinks, photographers and other personnel unrelated to production were moving back and forth taking photos, "not wearing hats or masks or anything, showing no concern at all for food hygiene," and they bluntly said the overall experience was poor and disappointing.

In fact, this is not the first time Xiangpiaopiao has used this kind of marketing tactic. Last December, when the brand opened its first offline pop-up store by West Lake in Hangzhou, it had already arranged for good-looking staff to provide services such as taking photos and brewing drinks, which sparked attention and discussion online.

After getting a taste of the traffic benefits, Xiangpiaopiao copied the same playbook in operating its second pop-up store, and with even greater momentum than before, using concepts such as auditions and boy bands to attract public attention and generate topical heat.

Regarding this marketing model, some people feel it fits the aesthetic preferences of today's young people and adds some fun to the shopping process. But some netizens gave sharp evaluations, believing the brand is purely creating gimmicks, saying "all the money was spent on marketing, they won't care about customers' experience," and even bluntly calling it "a really shoddy operation."

In the view of netizens, Xiangpiaopiao opening offline stores to let consumers experience and learn about instant milk tea may indeed boost product sales. But they also pointed out that the brand selecting pleasing "tea-making boy band" members to provide emotional value for consumers instead shifts customers' focus away, causing them to ignore the product itself and the actual consumption experience of the customers who came.

For consumers who prefer pour-over coffee and other drinks that place more emphasis on production details, Front Street Coffee suggests that whether it is instant milk tea or freshly made drinks, bar hygiene and operating standards are always important criteria for measuring the experience.

Image source: internet screenshots

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source. However, due to the large quantity, there may be个别 images and texts that have not yet been credited. Please forgive us. If the original author has any dispute, they may contact the website for handling. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop." Please indicate the source when reposting. If there is infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!

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