American coffee culture meets Manner's noisy handheld fan merch

Manner, long known among fans for its themed cups, switched to a handheld mini fan for its latest campaign. Customers who received the pink branded fan reported weak airflow that could not dispel summer heat, plus noise compared to an electric drill or a hair dryer, which becomes the loudest on the third speed.

The set also required buying three super-large drinks: a kumquat lemon Americano, a super-large Americano, and a super-large latte. That threshold left solo customers without a coffee buddy hesitating. Within american coffee culture, where iced Americanos anchor summer menus, the americano's coffee appeal is clear, but pairing it with a bulky three-drink bundle and a loud fan undercuts the everyday appeal the chain normally relies on.

Manner has long been famous for its wide variety of themed cups, jokingly called a "cup factory" by fans, but its latest campaign broke from convention by giving out handheld mini fans instead. They expected this practical summer item to win praise, but customers who received the actual product complained one after another: the airflow is too weak to dispel the heat, while the noise is as loud as an electric drill, a hair dryer, or even a tractor—switch it to the third speed and you become the center of attention. What makes some people hesitate even more is that getting the fan requires buying a three-cup super-large-size set, which is hard to handle without a coffee buddy. This article compiles feedback from netizens to see why this merchandise item makes people both love and hate it.

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Among chain coffee brands, Manner is often jokingly called a "cup factory" by fans because it frequently launches various themed cups. Every time a new cup is released, it always attracts users to place orders and snap it up immediately, and "cup hoarders" never miss a single campaign—the Manner cups they accumulate at home can almost fill an entire cabinet.

But recently, Manner, which has always loved giving away cups, suddenly changed tack and gave out handheld mini fans in its latest campaign. It is understood that users had to place an order for a designated merchandise set through the mini-program or a delivery platform to get a pink mini fan printed with the brand logo.

Seeing that Manner had for once not followed its usual practice of giving cups, but instead prepared handheld fans that are quite practical in summer, many netizens were immediately tempted and rushed to stores with their cups and water bottles to buy coffee on the day the campaign launched.

However, customers who hurried excitedly to the stores found that this fan set was different from previous ones: in addition to 1 cup of the new "super-large-size kumquat lemon Americano," it also had to be paired with 1 super-large-size Americano and 1 super-large-size latte. The sudden three-cup combination instantly discouraged some customers who had no coffee buddy, who said frankly that this generously portioned merchandise set was simply too much to handle.

As for those users who found a buddy, after buying the set, opening the fan packaging, and joyfully pressing the switch, they could not help but wonder whether they had received a fan or a hair dryer. Judging from feedback on social media, customers who received the Manner handheld mini fan generally felt after using it that even with the airflow adjusted to the highest setting, the cool breeze it blew could hardly dispel the muggy summer heat.

Besides the airflow being less than expected, what left many consumers who "bought the box but returned the pearl"—caring only about the giveaway—even more helpless was the noise the fan made while running. According to videos recorded by netizens, after pressing the switch, the originally quiet handheld fan began to "shout and scream," producing a sound that to them was almost comparable to a hair dryer at home.

Some also compared it to an "electric drill," a "blower," or a "tractor," joking: "The first speed is barely okay, the second starts roaring, and the third makes you receive stares." They laughingly said that as soon as this little fan starts, it "feels like it's arguing with you," making such a racket that your ears are nearly deafened.

In the eyes of netizens, most handheld mini fans on the market today emphasize quiet operation and strong airflow, so they did not expect Manner's merchandise to go the opposite way: not only is the airflow weak when used, but the commotion it creates can also make you the center of attention, discouraging people who originally wanted to take the new merchandise out with them and leaving them with no choice but to set it aside unused.

Many users said that the brand breaking its previous rules and giving out a more practically useful handheld mini fan was originally a good thing for fans. But the threshold for obtaining the merchandise rose from the past two-cup set to a three-cup set, and combined with the poor actual experience of the gift, it inevitably disappointed fans who had been full of expectations.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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