The ‘Life sucks’ cafe, other pop-up shops draw Shanghai consumers with a whiff of sarcasm

Social media platforms in China are abuzz with postings of consumers in Shanghai taking part in an unusual form of retail therapy that seems to speak to the offbeat or the irreverent.

The stir can be traced to pop-up stores, or small, temporary outlets designed to test new products, drive up sales, and make use of a low-cost approach to building brand awareness, said market researchers.

A case in point is ORZ Cha, which can be translated as “Life Sucks”, a pop-up tea shop in downtown Shanghai which opened for four days until May 1. Jointly run by China’s food delivery service provider Ele.me and mobile app Netease News, the shop attracted long queues by offering a selection of teas around some unusual themes. These include oolong tea for those whose whole life is a total failure, green tea for those who always work overtime without getting a pay rise, or black tea for those who are more than a little overweight.

Pop-up stores garnered momentum in the wake of the social buzz created by the Heecaa Tea Shop, which struck a chord with consumers by offering a whiff of sarcasm, underscored by its name which translates as “life is good”.

Ele.me told kuaixiaopin.com, a consumer products portal, that the concept was making use of content marketing to better interact with younger consumers who are frequent users on its platform.

A similar tone was behind “breakup”, a pop-up flower shop that opened for one day in Shanghai’s downtown Jing’an district on May 20, because its pronunciation is similar to “I love you” in Mandarin.