On the morning of August 19th, Luckin Coffee was once again criticized on the hot search list for product collaboration.
It is reported that on the day before the global release of the highly anticipated domestic game "Black Myth: Wukong", Luckin Coffee launched the game co branded coffee "Tengyun American Style". According to the official Weibo post, the promotional materials for the linked merchandise include co branded cup covers, co branded paper bags, and limited edition 3D posters of Black Myth. Among them, limited edition 3D posters require purchasing a designated package to obtain. However, as of press time, the reporter found that multiple offline stores have sold out their related packages.
According to the Black Cat Complaints Platform, multiple complaints related to the Luckin joint venture activity were added on August 19th.
A consumer reported that they purchased a joint package from Luckin Coffee on the morning of August 19th. The salesperson asked the consumer to scan the self pickup code before informing them that the package was no longer available. After coordination, the salesperson told the consumer that they could choose to return the package for a refund, but the after-sales service was not completed until noon. Subsequently, the consumer called customer service and was informed that they could receive two unconditional coupons, but these coupons cannot be used to purchase joint packages.
Screenshot of the Black Cat Complaint Platform
According to the consumer's complaint, they do not drink beverages on weekdays and hope for a refund from Luckin Coffee.
Another consumer claimed that due to issues with Luckin Coffee's ordering system, they spent money on posters but were unable to receive them. Some consumers have purchased package verification coupons, but when they redeem them on-site, they encounter the problem of being unable to verify them.
Subsequently, Luckin Coffee stated that "there was a brief issue with the package system this morning, which has now been fixed." However, there are still a large number of netizens on related Weibo who feel that Luckin Coffee has been "tricked by monkeys.
Weibo screenshot
At present, Luckin Coffee has issued an apology on its official WeChat account and formulated a replenishment plan. The new batch of 3D posters will take about 15 days to produce.
Black Myth: Wukong is about to be released
Gaming stocks are improving
According to the official website of the game, "Black Myth: Wukong" is an action role-playing game set in Chinese mythology. The story is based on one of the "Four Great Classical Novels" in Chinese literature, "Journey to the West". Players will take on the role of a "destined person" and embark on a journey to the west full of danger and surprise in order to uncover the truth of past legends.
The game will be officially released on August 20th, but two months ago on June 10th, the physical version of the game had already started full pre-sale. It is reported that within one month after the pre-sale began, the game sold 1.2 million copies, with sales of nearly 400 million yuan, and at the same time, it ranked first in global sales on the Steam platform for the current period.
Public information shows that Game Science, the developer of "Black Myth: Wukong," is a company from Shenzhen. According to Tianyan, the full name of the company is Shenzhen Youke Interactive Technology Co., Ltd., which was founded in 2014 and located in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. It is an enterprise mainly engaged in Internet and related services. The registered capital of the enterprise is RMB 657895 million, with a paid in capital of RMB 402895 million, and strategic financing has been completed in 2021.
It is worth noting that Tianyancha shows that Feng Ji is the legal representative, chairman, and general manager of the company, and there is also a director named Yang Qi among the company's key personnel. It is understood that both of them previously worked at Tencent.
Public information shows that both of them were former producers of "God of War" and are now the creators of "Black Myth: Wukong". Among them, Feng Ji joined Tencent in 2008 and participated in the "God of War" project. In 2014, I left Tencent with several colleagues and established my own studio - Game Science. Yang Qi, on the other hand, is the co-founder of Game Science and the former chief concept designer of Tencent's "God of War" game.
Equity penetration shows that Tencent has also invested in Game Science. According to Tianyancha, currently Guangxi Tencent Venture Capital Co., Ltd. holds a 5% stake in Game Science.
Tianyancha
Affected by the popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong", the gaming sector rose in the morning of August 19th, with Huayi Brothers hitting the daily limit up by 20CM. As of the close, more than half of the A-share gaming stocks have risen, Caesar Culture has hit the daily limit up, Dasheng Culture and Glacier Network have risen nearly 7%, and Kunlun Wanwei has risen over 5%.
Frequent negative news
Luckin Coffee hot search "addiction"
In fact, in recent months, Luckin Coffee has been trending due to negative news.
On August 11, Ruixing Coffee was called a hot search because the online customer service automatically responded to a question from Yiyang Qianxi, the spokesman of the global brand of Ruixing Coffee. Later, the official micro blog of the company issued an apology statement, apologizing to Yiyang Qianxi Qianxi and consumers.
According to the pictures released by many users on the network platform, the online customer service of Ruixing Coffee wrote the name of its spokesman Yiyang Qianxi wrong in the reply, which caused dissatisfaction among fans. According to fan comments on the official website of Luckin Coffee, most people do not buy the apology statement mentioned above. Some comments indicate that not only did the automatic response make mistakes, but even the manual response was also incorrect.
On May 8th, a consumer complained to the Municipal Supervision Bureau after purchasing several cups of Luckin Coffee and found that the ice cubes were "moldy and moldy". At the end of April, there were rumors circulating online that "Luckin Coffee does not recruit people from Shanghai". However, later on, Luckin Coffee's official WeChat account stated that such information was untrue and that Luckin Coffee firmly opposes any form of regional discrimination.
In addition, in April of this year, Luckin Coffee's founder Lu Zhengyao and partners were forcibly executed for over 1.89 billion yuan. According to legal litigation information from Tianyancha, Lu Zhengyao and his collaborator Li Huan have been listed as executed persons by the Beijing Fourth Intermediate People's Court, with an execution target of over 1.89 billion yuan.
In terms of performance, according to the company's Q2 2024 financial report, Luckin Coffee's total net revenue during the reporting period was RMB 8.403 billion, a year-on-year increase of 35.5%. However, overall, Luckin Coffee's total net revenue in the first half of the year reached 14.681 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38%; The net profit was 788 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 50%.