Introduction:After the advance leak of Luckin Coffee’s collaboration packaging with 《JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean》 sparked controversy due to a gap between the design style and fan expectations, how did this cross-industry partnership unexpectedly ignite creative sparks amid the debate—from official teasers to fan-made reinterpretations? This article walks you through the full story of the event, and showcases those DIY versions hailed as “far better than the official ones.”
In mid-August this year, Luckin solicited collaboration partner suggestions from fans on social platforms, receiving over 40,000 comments in just a short time. Alongside common anime characters like Doraemon and Stitch, anime fans specifically mentioned 《JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure》, with some even joking that the then-not-nationally-available Latte with Fresh Cheese should be launched first. Unexpectedly, two months later, Luckin officially announced its collaboration with 《JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean》, set to release new products on October 10, and also complied with popular demand by bringing back the classic Latte with Fresh Cheese—immediately becoming a hot topic.
However, just before the official launch, a set of unofficially leaked packaging designs stirred up a huge uproar. From the revealed images, the main visuals featured the female protagonist Jolyne Cujoh and her Stand ability as key elements, paired with a layout of numerous squares and circles, aiming to evoke the signature energetic vibe of manga.But when the punny copywriting of the Latte with Fresh Cheese—“久(jo)等了!” (a play on “Jo” and “waiting”)—was combined with somewhat rough imagery, the overall visual effect left many JoJo fans deeply disappointed.
Despite the ongoing controversy, some netizens felt the design was slightly better than the initially leaked unofficial version. “At least it’s more pleasing to the eye than that weird draft,” commented one user. Some consumers also admitted they had expected Luckin to use real celebrity endorsement photos, but changed their minds after seeing the anime-style design. However, more fans, comparing it with Luckin’s previous high-quality collaborations with other IPs, frankly stated that the design quality this time was clearly below expectations.
“Luckin’s limited-edition packaging has always been eye-catching, but this time it feels like a haphazard collage—really disappointing,” said a consumer who had long followed Luckin’s collaboration campaigns. Some supporters argued this might be due to the common use of identical materials in domestic merchandise. “You can’t blame Luckin entirely—the image library provided by the original brand has limited options, and many JoJo-related goods have this kind of style too.”
Faced with dissatisfaction over the official design, netizens demonstrated astonishing talent, eagerly creating their own DIY versions of the collaboration.These spontaneous creations not only excelled in color usage and compositional design, but also skillfully integrated JoJo elements with coffee culture, earning widespread praise from netizens.
From exquisitely hand-drawn illustrations to creatively arranged layouts, the fans’ works triggered a new wave of reposts on social platforms.Many JoJo fans openly expressed that these DIY versions were far more in line with their imagination of combining anime with coffee. Some even joked, “Luckin should just adopt these designs!”
This unexpected design controversy unexpectedly became an alternative success case of brand-consumer interaction. Although the initial packaging failed to meet all expectations, the extensive discussions and creative extensions it sparked actually drew more attention to the collaboration.Even more interestingly, the original packaging design was reworked by fans into various types of merchandise such as pins and eco-friendly cup stickers, showcasing remarkable creative continuity.
This incident offers profound insights for coffee brand collaborations: when original designs fail to meet fan expectations, opening up creative space can instead stimulate stronger brand loyalty. Will Luckin draw inspiration from these fans’ creative ideas if it launches another anime collaboration series in the future? It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
