When faced with an unprecedented number of complaints, how should a company respond?

"Lipton Milk Tea" has been a beloved beverage symbolizing youth for nearly 40 years. However, due to decline in sales, the taste was changed in 2022. This led to a flood of 667 complaints within six months, the highest number of complaints in the history of Morinaga Milk Industry. In response, the company decided to go back to the original taste within a year. It was necessary to announce this decision in a careful manner, addressing existing fans while attracting new ones.

Upon discovering (that) complaints can also be seen as love letters, the concept to create a romance anime composed entirely of actual complaints emerged.

We discovered complaints such as "I've lost the will to live" or "Please put milk tea in my coffin when I die" resembled confessions of love. After realizing this, it was decided that the announcement of the revival of the original taste would be made like a romance anime film. Character names, dialogue, background art, and theme song- all composed entirely of complaints. We contacted each customer individually who sent complaints to Morinaga Milk Industry and obtained permissions one by one.

To promote the anime's release, fan preview screenings were held, and out-of-home advertisements composed solely of complaints were displayed.

The action of 'reviving the original flavor of Milk Tea' was exposed to the public with a clear narrative: “Recognizing the love of fans led to the revival.”

In order to give meaning into the seemingly simple action of “restoring the original flavor,” a strategy of gathering the complaints was devised to “visualize the passion”.

Simultaneously, Morinaga Milk Industry conveyed its stance as a company that “recognized love” through the complaints that pleaded for the revival of the original flavor.

Through fact-based storytelling, we publicized the action of 'reviving the original flavor within a year' in a way that captures widespread interest.

(1)Just before releasing online, we organized a preview event inviting approximately 50 customers who were eligible to participate, out of the 667 who submitted complaints. This fan event served as an opportunity to directly express our gratitude to the fans.

(2)On March 20th, the day before the revival of the original flavor of Lipton Milk Tea on March 21st, Morinaga Milk Industry released a “romantic animation created only with complaints” on its official social media channels. On the same day, we published a collaborative PR article.

Intentions behind the animation production was explained at the event, to ensure that our motives were communicated without distortion.

(3)Along with the video release, advertisements resembling a film release were displayed for a week from March 20th. Numerous “complaints" were also featured in these outdoor advertisements.

From a fan event to a societal phenomenon.

Sales increased by over 400%. Over 3 million views.

On March 20th, 2023, the video was released on the official X account. The video achieved over 3 million views (as of May 7, 2023). It received a record-breaking 96,000 likes, the highest in Morinaga Milk Industry's history. The video became a hot topic on social media, trending and gaining exposure through TV and web media coverage. Reach exceeded 35 million and total tweets surpassed 127,000.

As a result, the declining sales experienced a V-shaped recovery. Convenience store sales grew to over 400% compared to the week before the revival promotion, and it has since maintained an average of 460%.