What a Coffee Enthusiast Notices in the Chagee Ne Zha 2 Printing Fail

Chagee's second wave of limited-edition Ne Zha 2 packaging, featuring the character Ao Guang on paper bags and takeaway cups sold with the drink Fragrant Mountain Tea, drew complaints soon after release. Buyers reported severe ghosting on cup artwork, obvious color differences between cups, bags and posters, and details blurred into mosaic-like patches. Some stores also skipped the themed cups for delivery orders, affecting customers who ordered remotely.

The first batch of Ne Zha 2 packaging had already drawn similar complaints about blurry printing and fading, so expectations for a fix ran high. A coffee enthusiast watching the rollout sees a familiar pattern: tie-in merchandise produced at speed can slip past quality control. The brand has not publicly detailed how it will address the second wave, and the incident adds pressure on how collaboration packaging is inspected before it reaches stores.

Chagee recently launched the second wave of limited-edition packaging for its "Ne Zha 2" collaboration across stores nationwide. The popular character Ao Guang was printed on paper bags and takeaway cups, sold alongside the drink "Fragrant Mountain Tea," with a single cup purchase earning a matching paper bag. As soon as the news broke, fans rushed to buy, but upon receiving the actual products, they were greatly disappointed: the cup designs had severe ghosting, so bad that people joked you'd need 3D glasses to see them clearly; the color difference between the themed cups, paper bags, and posters was obvious, and the details were blurred into mosaics. Many consumers pointed out that the first batch of packaging had already suffered from issues like blurry printing and fading, and they had expected the brand to improve its craftsmanship—yet the second batch still flopped. In addition, some stores failed to use the themed cups as advertised, harming the rights of delivery customers. As coffee enthusiasts, Front Street Coffee has also taken note of this collaboration merchandise quality-control controversy, and this article will sort through the incident and consumer feedback.

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Recently, Chagee launched the second wave of limited-edition packaging for its "Ne Zha 2" collaboration across stores nationwide. The fan-favorite animated character Ao Guang was printed on paper bags and takeaway cups, sold alongside the drink "Fragrant Mountain Tea," with customers needing only to buy one cup to receive a matching paper bag.

(Image screenshot from official Weibo)

This news naturally excited many fans, but they also worried that these limited-edition packaging items—obtainable with just one milk tea—would sell out instantly. So many people, as soon as they saw the ordering interface update, hurried to place orders at nearby stores.

However, when delighted customers took the themed cups out of the paper bags and saw the designs on the cups, they wondered if their eyes were playing tricks on them. From buyer photos shared online, the characters printed on the takeaway cups had ghosting, and the customer even joked that the cup they got would probably require 3D glasses to appreciate slowly.

Other customers, though they didn't encounter such severe defects, found an obvious color difference among the themed cup, paper bag, and limited-edition poster when they placed the three side by side. Moreover, by comparison, the printing on the themed cups was somewhat rough, and up close, details like the characters' eyebrows and eyes had blurred into a mosaic.

In response, some fans pointed out that Chagee's first batch of limited-edition packaging had already suffered from blurry printing, ghosting, and fading, drawing complaints from collectors who couldn't accept flawed merchandise. At the time, some users thought the brand might listen to feedback and improve its printing process, so the second batch of packaging wouldn't repeat the same mistakes.

Unexpectedly, this newly introduced batch of takeaway cups still had the flaws consumers had cared about before, leaving customers who ordered specifically for the limited-edition merchandise quite disappointed and speaking frankly about their dissatisfaction with the brand's collaboration product quality.

In the eyes of fans who care more about the packaging than the drink itself, they participated in this collaboration mainly to obtain the packaging materials and themed merchandise they wanted, not for a cup of milk tea. So when they open the packaging, they care more about whether they receive a product consistent with the official promotion.

Additionally, some netizens pointed out that besides the collaboration products' quality falling short of expectations, Chagee's service also had shortcomings. For example, staff did not use the matching themed cups for the designated drinks as shown in promotional images, causing excited delivery customers to open their paper bags in disappointment and have to go to the store to argue for their rights.

Netizens who have experienced various collaboration campaigns from different brands said that compared with other peers, Chagee's collaboration with "Ne Zha 2" indeed has quite a few shortcomings worthy of criticism—so much so that consumers who had high expectations for a collaboration by a leading tea beverage brand posted complaints on social media about the poor experience, and the event organizers probably should do more work on this.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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