**HISTORY REPEATS: The Miffy-Starbucks Meltdown Is This Generation’s “McDonald’s Teapot” Scandal**
HISTORY REPEATS: The Miffy-Starbucks Meltdown Is This Generation’s “McDonald’s Teapot” Scandal
In a bizarre echo of the 1982 “McDonald’s Teapot” incident—where a limited-edition Happy Meal ceramic teapot caused nationwide riots in Japan—Starbucks’ new Miffy x Strawberry Collection has triggered a modern-day consumer frenzy.
Yesterday, viral clips showed adults sprinting through Shanghai malls, trampling displays and shoving baristas over a $15 rabbit-eared tumbler. “I haven’t seen this level of chaos since the Beanie Baby crashes of ’99,” says retail historian Dr. Lina Zhou. “But the real parallel? It’s the same scarcity-manufactured hysteria that toppled the Ming Dynasty’s salt monopoly.”