What went wrong in this coffee culture collaboration launch?

Molly Tea released a Hello Kitty co-branded drink called Melon Melon Delight plus themed merchandise for Children's Day, and fans ordered the moment sales opened. Many buyers said their payment cleared but the merchandise never arrived, and some stores canceled orders without calling. Others traveled to stores only to be told items were first come, first served while supplies lasted. Disputes with staff broke out at several locations, and police advised shoppers to file complaints through 12315.

The case sits inside a broader coffee culture of limited drops tied to popular characters, where demand is planned around scarcity. The weak point was inventory and order management rather than the drink itself. When a mini-program confirms payment, customers expect the item to be reserved. Clear stock counts, order confirmation messages and published complaint routes would have prevented most of the backlash reported after launch day.

Molly Tea partnered with Hello Kitty to launch limited-edition drinks and merchandise, drawing a large number of fans to snap them up the moment they dropped. However, after the campaign began, consumers in many places reported that their payments went through but they never received the merchandise, and some stores even canceled orders without notifying customers. Customers who went to stores to pick up their orders were told that the merchandise was first come, first served and available only while supplies last, leaving some people making the trip for nothing. As dissatisfaction escalated, disputes between customers and staff broke out at some stores and police were called. Officers advised consumers to defend their rights through channels such as 12315. This co-branded campaign sparked widespread complaints due to problems with merchandise inventory and order management.

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Recently, Molly Tea officially announced a co-branded collaboration with the popular IP "Hello Kitty," launching a limited-edition drink, "Melon Melon Delight," along with multiple themed merchandise items, inviting fans to relive childhood fun and celebrate Children's Day together.

Upon learning that Hello Kitty, this wildly popular "top-tier female star," was teaming up with Molly Tea, fans were thrilled. Many followed the collaboration updates online in advance and set multiple alarms before the campaign started, all just to grab the limited-edition merchandise as soon as stores opened.

(Image screenshot from the official Weibo)

However, after the highly anticipated co-branded campaign officially launched, complaints from consumers kept appearing on social platforms. Posters said that because they worried the limited-edition merchandise would be hard to get, they prepared early and placed orders right on time, and the mini-program showed that payment was successful. But after waiting more than half an hour, they opened their delivery bag full of expectation, only to find just one cup of drink inside the insulated bag, with the limited-edition merchandise they had been longing for nowhere to be seen.

Other users posted screenshots of their orders, saying that dozens of minutes after payment went through, the store quietly canceled the order without any phone notification, reducing their early, perfectly timed purchase effort to nothing.

In addition, some customers who could not wait for delivery went to the stores to pick up their orders after successfully placing them, only to be told that the merchandise was first come, first served and available only while supplies last. Customers who had bought the designated set could only cancel the order themselves or wait until the store restocked and then return to collect it. Many people said they had made the trip for nothing!

The merchandise being out of stock at stores in many places left many consumers deeply dissatisfied with Molly Tea, which planned the collaboration. They believed that the number of co-branded limited-edition sets should be closely tied to store inventory, and that once a customer placed an order and payment succeeded, the merchandise in the set should belong to the payer, with store inventory reduced accordingly.

But judging from online feedback, a successful payment did not mean the merchandise was secured, and the limited-edition items were not taken off sale in time according to actual sales conditions, causing many users who had already paid to be unable to obtain the merchandise as they had hoped.

Consumers admitted that taking part in the co-branded campaign was really about wanting the packaging more than the product itself, but they never expected that after spending money they would end up with nothing at all, making it a true portrayal of "drawing water with a bamboo basket."

Merchandise being out of stock at stores sparked widespread dissatisfaction among many customers, and some people got into arguments with staff after arriving at the stores.

A netizen posted a video saying that at the store, many customers waiting to pick up their orders were told by staff that the merchandise was sold out. Dissatisfied with the store's explanation and handling, they gathered in front of the counter and argued with the staff, eventually choosing to call the police and asking officers to help handle this customer complaint dispute.

Unfortunately, after learning about the situation, the police officers who arrived were also powerless to do anything. They could only calm the indignant customers present and advise them that if they had any complaints about the brand or were dissatisfied with this purchase, they could file complaints through official channels such as 12315, or pursue legal proceedings to protect their rights.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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