If you thought milk tea brands had exhausted their creativity, think again. China’s Mixue has pioneered a groundbreaking marketing trend, transforming ordinary sales receipts into serialized fiction, sparking a nationwide “receipt novel” craze.

The phenomenon centers around “Snow King Sells Coffee in Ancient Times” (雪王在古代卖咖啡), a whimsical narrative starring Mixue’s iconic snowman mascot. The story sees the Snow King time-traveling to ancient China, where he sets up shop selling lattes, riding horses, and championing “freshly brewed freedom”—all printed in over 20 installments directly onto customer receipts.

What began as an imaginative marketing “easter egg” quickly exploded into a viral sensation. Customers eagerly collected chapters, posted updates online, and even crowdsourced missing segments across social media platforms like Weibo. Hashtags related to the trend amassed millions of views, with #蜜雪冰城小票藏连载小说# (Mixue receipts hide a serialized novel) garnering 37.9 million views, and #网友拼蜜雪小票看连载小说# (Netizens piece together Mixue receipts to read a serialized novel) attracting 2.63 million views. The campaign’s innovative climax invited consumers to write their own endings, fostering unprecedented levels of interactive brand engagement.

This ingenious strategy has not gone unnoticed. Other prominent milk tea chains are now following suit, with some venturing into “霸总” (CEO romance) stories, while others adopt meta-narratives with open endings, inviting customer participation in their own unique ways. Mixue‘s receipt fiction has not only captivated millions but also reshaped the landscape of digital folklore and marketing trends within China’s dynamic beverage industry. To keep tabs on more trends coming out of China and beyond, be sure to follow our Instagram account!

All images via Xiaohongshu.