Introduction:During Teachers' Day, the tea beverage brand ChaBaQi launched a promotion titled "Honor Teachers with Tea," encouraging educators to claim benefits with their credentials. However, due to limited teacher cards available per store, many teachers across different regions complained of "coming in vain." This article details the regional campaign specifics, actual redemption experiences of teachers, and compiles responses from the brand and stores to help readers understand the reasons behind the controversy.

As the 40th Teachers' Day approached, the well-known tea brand ChaBaQi launched an exclusive campaign called "Honor Teachers with Tea, Invite You for a Drink," aiming to express respect to teachers nationwide while enhancing its brand image. However, this well-intentioned promotion encountered execution issues that left many teachers deeply disappointed.

According to store posters shared by netizens across various locations, the campaign content and timing varied by region: for example, from September 6 to September 10, teachers in Zhejiang and Guangdong could present their teaching qualification certificates and ID cards to receive a "Teacher Card," which entitled them to a buy-one-get-one-free offer; on September 10, teachers in Shanxi who purchased any double-large drink received a limited-edition fridge magnet as a gift. Additionally, teachers in Jiangxi who ordered a double-large cup of original leaf fresh milk tea could add just 9.9 RMB to get a limited leather storage bucket, while teachers in Sichuan and Lhasa could even get a free medium-sized Boya Juexian tea for free—benefits that seemed considerably more substantial.

Once the campaign launched, it quickly garnered attention from numerous teachers. Beyond traditional flowers and greeting cards, many educators chose to visit ChaBaQi stores on Teachers' Day to enjoy their favorite tea beverages and share this professional pride on social media. A teacher from Guangdong shared that they arrived at the store early in the morning, where the staff were friendly, verified their credentials, personally handed over the "Teacher Card," and offered festival wishes, making them feel very warmly welcomed.

Even if teachers forgot to bring their original teaching qualification certificates, there was no need to worry. A teacher from Ningbo mentioned that when they temporarily used an official certificate as a substitute, the staff still readily assisted with the exchange, demonstrating the brand’s expected level of humanized service.

However, not every teacher was able to smoothly enjoy these benefits. On the social media topic "#ChaBaQiTeachersDayBenefits#", many teachers reported that upon arriving at the store, they found the "Teacher Cards" had already been claimed, with some stores not participating in the campaign at all, leaving them feeling overlooked and even turning from fans into the disappointed.

One focal point of the controversy is the rule of "limited quantities, first-come-first-served, until supplies last." A teacher in Zhejiang mentioned that the store opened at 10 AM on the first day of the campaign, but when they arrived at 11 AM, they were told that all Teacher Cards had been claimed the previous day. Inquiries at multiple stores yielded the same answer, leading them to question whether the brand genuinely intended to run the campaign.

Teachers in Jiangsu also pointed out that although online marketing heavily promoted Teachers' Day benefits, they were actually very difficult to redeem, with extremely limited numbers of the special cards and staff unwilling to disclose specific quotas, making them feel that "if you can’t run the campaign properly, then don’t do it."

In response to the controversy, a person claiming to be the manager of a ChaBaQi store revealed that some stores indeed did not participate in the campaign, and that the "Teacher Cards" for each store were uniformly allocated by the company, with inherently limited quantities that were often claimed within hours of the campaign’s start. He further explained that if teachers arrived when the cards were already gone, staff would offer a "Student Card" as compensation, which also provided discounts such as half price for the second cup or buy-four-get-one-free deals.

In social media threads discussing "complaints about Teachers' Day campaigns," ChaBaQi became one of the brands singled out by many netizens. Some users suggested that if the brand is not fully prepared or sincere in executing the campaign, it might as well follow the approach of other brands and not launch it at all—thus avoiding awkward responses from store staff to customers such as: "Our cards are all gone, please check with other stores."

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