ZUS Coffee releases Palestine-themed coffee sleeves, receives mixed sentiments

ZUS Coffee has printed one million Palestine-themed cup sleeves in a new initiative to raise awareness and solidarity for the Palestinian cause.

The limited edition #WakeUpForGaza sleeves will be distributed with every order and include a section where customers can write their hopes and aspiration for Gaza.

In writing their own message of support on the back of the sleeve, ZUS Coffee says it aims to turn each sleeve into a "symbol of hope and solidarity", according to a post seen on Instagram. It also urged customers to share their messages and to tag the coffee brand to "help spread the message around the world". 

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The initiative comes as the brand launches a donation feature in the ZUS Coffee app to make contributing to Gaza easier and more accessible. The donation feature will remain as a permanent part of ZUS Coffee and will be utilised for other initiatives as well, said creative director Shafiqah Othman in a LinkedIn post. 

"It is worth reiterating that this is not a 'buy and donate' campaign, but rather, a solidarity campaign, in hopes that more people will understand that this is not a religious issue, but a humanitarian issue at its core," added Shafiqah in her LinkedIn post. 

During checkout, users can add a donation of RM1, RM5, RM10 to their order, with all proceeds going to Tabung Gaza by Malaysia Consultive Council of Islamic Organisations (MAPIM).

According to media intelligence firm DATAXET, the overall sentiments on the ZUS #WakeUpForGaza initiative are mixed, with 55% positive and 45% negative sentiments. 

Many netizens (40%) expressed strong support for ZUS Coffee's initiative, appreciating the brand's stance on Palestine and their contribution to a meaningful cause, while some netizens (20% criticised ZUS Coffee's initiative as insincere and opportunistic. These netizens also questioned the brand's true intentions.

Meanwhile, with Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day around the corner, few (15%) netizens questioned the relevance and appropriateness of ZUS Coffee’s initiative in the Malaysian context, particularly regarding national identity, racial dynamics, and the use of Palestine flag. 

Interestingly, few netizens (15%) expressed a preference for ZUS Coffee over Starbucks, often emphasising differences in corporate social responsibility and product quality, with ZUS’s bold stance swaying their loyalty, added DATAXET. 

An additional 10% of netizens doubted of how much of the initiative’s profits would be donated to Palestine, reflecting a desire for greater transparency, it added. 

In addition, words such as 'compassion', 'impact' and 'donation' appeared in the word cloud after the launch of the initiative, according to media intelligence CARMA. Before, words such as 'pastry', 'Philippines' and 'coffee' were associated with the brand. 

This campaign comes after ZUS Coffee's brand sentiments plummeted after it participated at an adidas sports and fashion event where it served coffee to guests earlier in May this year. 

Netizens were allegedly unhappy that the coffee brand worked together with adidas which consumers are currently boycotting as the war between Israel and Gaza continues to rage on.

Conversation about ZUS coffee before the controversy around adidas were 28.3% positive and 8.7% negative with keywords such as “sedap” (delicious), “support” and “exciting” being associated by the brand, according to CARMA.

In contrast, conversation sentiments plummeted to 4.7% positive and 40.5% negative after the controversy with its word cloud now including words such as “bye”, “boycott” and “apologises”.

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