What Happened With the Luckin Coffee Label Printer Memes?

Employees at some Luckin Coffee stores found that new label-printing equipment, installed for smaller drink labels, could connect to a phone app and print images from its photo album. Staff printed memes and custom designs on cups, aprons and bar equipment. One customer received a cold drink cup bearing a meme instead of an order code, and photos spread online.

Management soon banned the practice, ordering that label machines be used only for order codes and expiration labels, and asked employees to delete related social media posts. The incident highlights the tension between standardized brand control in a large coffee store chain and the personal touches staff want to add. It also shows how quickly a store-level experiment can reach a wide audience.

Recently, employees at some Luckin Coffee stores, while debugging new label-printing equipment, unexpectedly discovered that the machines could connect to phones to print images from photo albums. They then began printing funny memes and custom designs onto takeaway cups and aprons, drawing attention and admiration from netizens. However, the good times did not last long—management quickly issued a ban, requiring label machines to be used only for printing order codes and expiration labels, and instructing employees to delete related social media posts. This "abstract label" storm, triggered by a cup of coffee, not only reveals the potential of personalized service but also reflects the tension between standardized brand management and employee creativity. Front Street Coffee walks you through the whole incident.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

Not long ago, a customer went to a Luckin store to pick up an order and noticed that the takeaway cup they received was a little different from usual.

The blue label stuck on that cold drink cup had no order code, drink name, or calorie information. Instead, it featured a meme of a Luckin worker holding a tray of ice cubes. The customer found it very novel and immediately took a photo and posted it online, which unexpectedly attracted a large crowd of onlookers.

According to Luckin store employees, the brand recently updated its drink labels, making them slightly smaller than before, and also provided stores with printing devices compatible with the new labels. During the process of debugging the machines, some staff discovered that the new label printer could connect to a phone through a certain app, allowing them to print images saved in the phone's photo album.

After discovering this hidden function, many Luckin employees began to "get creative," printing out all kinds of funny memes and custom drink stickers they had collected and sticking them on bar equipment, takeaway cups, and even their own aprons, having a great time with it.

The meme-labeled drink that customer received was very likely the result of an employee's momentary oversight—mixing up their own DIY-printed sticker with the normal drink label and accidentally sticking it on a finished cup.

After seeing these personalized labels, many Luckin fans exclaimed, "So fun," "I would really buy it because of this, and every day I'd look forward to what meme I'd get today," and "Can I ask for this sticker when buying coffee?" Many people felt that these special stickers added a bit of fun to takeaway cups and also attracted quite a few customers who enjoy novelty to place orders.

However, as more and more employees printed label stickers and shared them on social platforms, Luckin stores in some regions successively received the latest notice from management: label machines could only be used to print order codes, expiration labels, and the like. Staff were explicitly prohibited from using in-store production equipment to print personalized labels, and employees were also required to delete related content they had already posted on social media.

This sudden warning made staff afraid to continue "getting creative," and also disappointed consumers who wanted the same labels. Some pointed out that Starbucks employees draw a few strokes on takeaway cups, and Heytea allows users to customize label content. These interesting customization services not only bring consumers a bit of fun, but also enhance brand favorability, giving customers who pursue personalization one more reason to place an order.

Therefore, after learning that the company officially prohibited employees from printing label stickers, many onlookers were puzzled by the ban, believing that the Luckin management who issued the new rule was too rigid and lacked a sense of fun, and had missed out on a wave of attention and business opportunities for nothing.

However, some netizens also believed that although employee-made meme labels were unique and quite interesting, the content on the stickers might not make all customers feel happy. "It's really unsuitable for corporate group orders or coffee work-social settings," and "Not everyone can accept abstract style; many people would feel offended."

In addition, in the view of some people, if every customer who came to the store asked Luckin employees to print a distinctive personalized label sticker, this fun gimmick could very likely become an extra workload for staff, thereby affecting store output efficiency.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Disclaimer: Some images in this article come 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 individual images or texts that have not yet been credited. Please understand. 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 any infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!

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