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The font of Starbucks Spring Festival couplets for the year of the Tiger was questioned by netizens to spoil the traditional culture. Foreign brands cling to the "national tide" design

Published: 2026-04-24 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/04/24, As the "national tide" has become a trend in recent years, more and more brands have simplified the traditional elements such as patterns, fonts and patterns that were once "hated by the younger generation" into modern design, and "national tide" has also become a representative of minority culture with distinctive characteristics. Due to the integration of a large number of traditional designs, farmers every year

As the "national tide" has become a trend in recent years, more and more brands have simplified the traditional elements such as patterns, fonts and patterns that were once "hated by the younger generation" into modern design, and "national tide" has also become a representative of minority culture with distinctive characteristics.

Due to the integration of a large number of traditional designs, every Lunar New year is the time to best reflect the "national tide". Whether domestic brands or foreign brands, many of them will shorten the distance between the public and Chinese traditional culture through the "national tide", condensing and transforming history into specific brands and products on the occasion of festivals that Chinese people attach importance to.

For Starbucks, which will not miss the festival that is most valued by the East and the West (Lunar New year-Christmas) as a marketing scene, the "national tide" must keep up with it! In order to integrate imported coffee more deeply into the traditional scene of the Chinese Lunar New year, in addition to launching cakes with Spring Festival elements and drinks with "New year flavor" as well as peripheral products in the shape of various zodiac animals, Starbucks also jointly launched the "National Chao" calligraphy Spring Festival couplets with fashion calligraphy artist Zhu Jingyi this year, borrowing the homonym "year together" to tell consumers that no matter where you are for many years. Starbucks will stick together with you.

This is not the first time Starbucks has tried to use the "national tide". In 2020, the "Sanhao Star Youth" series was launched as a "test of the water" to see how consumers react to the "national trend" of foreign brands and the intensity of consumption. A seemingly lukewarm series reflects that the Chinese people do not resent this practice, but lacks the support of the scene, and has also launched several peripheral products that have been integrated into the "national tide" design, but they have not been vigorously promoted. It was not until the 2022 Spring Festival series that Starbucks decided to use "National Tide" as the theme, and the use of publicity and scenes was significantly stronger than in the past.

As for the "national tide", you can't be honest and uncreative. Even if you write a couplet, you have to be completely original! So Starbucks teamed up with Zhu Jingyi, known as the "mudslide" in calligraphy, to create two sets of couplets without paying attention to "flat rhyme" and "traditional writing". (Starbucks' explanation is not limited to tradition, which is even more interesting! It belongs to the new interpretation of Spring Festival couplets and is a new art of calligraphy.

And this "calligrapher" is also a person who goes his own way, known as a "madman" in the calligraphy world. The text content of his calligraphy works is also similar to jokes, all kinds of, no rhyme to speak of. The writing style is somewhat similar to that of Zeng Zaocai, who called himself "the emperor of Kowloon" in Hong Kong at that time.

(this is the handwriting left by the "Kowloon Emperor" on the street.)

(Starbucks in Hong Kong has also used this graffiti style in decoration.)

It is the kind that no matter on the paper, where you like to write, the font will not be neat and symmetrical, and the content will be whatever you want, in order to highlight your own difference. But his behavior was once questioned by netizens. The author thinks that it is an act of "cultural invasion" to forcibly integrate foreign "street graffiti" culture into Chinese traditional culture by making use of the term "new calligraphy art".... As for Zhu Jingyi's style, netizens said that he did not deserve to be a "calligrapher", lacking awe of culture and understanding of tradition.

(calligraphy works by Zhu Jingyi)

For the Spring Festival couplets launched by Starbucks, netizens must not be able to sit still. Writing on white paper, walls and other places can still be regarded as art, but writing on couplet paper is no good! Netizens' diss content mainly revolves around "no aesthetic sense of calligraphy and very disrespect for Chinese traditional culture". The content is also very eloquent to read. "look up at the starry sky and enjoy leisurely steps on mountains and rivers and hope to chill again and again."if you want to read long and short, you will like to stick around and be busy with you."

It is estimated that Starbucks launched the "National Fashion Spring Festival couplets" this time, hoping to deduce the traditional Spring Festival elements through the trendy style. at the same time, the content of the Spring Festival couplets also breaks the traditional framework and adopts the attitude copywriting that young people like. "Coffee" and "Chinese New year" are not related to each other.

Obviously, Starbucks is out of play this time. To be exact, Starbucks got the wrong guy this time. Because Spring Festival couplets are not only a kind of decoration, but also an important part of Chinese traditional culture. The Spring Festival couplets themselves also have the intention of praying for blessings, and although the two groups of Starbucks Spring Festival couplets have the same number of words, they are rather childish in terms of content and writing style.

Photo Source: online Weibo

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