Following Magnum's Success Last Year, Dove's Pop-Up Choc Bar Might Not Be So Lucky

Sometimes, when you miss an opportunity, another opportunity arises to take its place. But sometimes, that second replacement opportunity ends up being a miss, too. You may recall we spent a long time lurking around The Red at Sanlitun Taikooli last year for convenience store ice cream Magnum’s mega successful pop-up Pleasure Store from July 9 to August 7, and we regretfully never made it in due to the long queue.

This year, Dove (the chocolate brand belonging to Mars) has “creatively” copied the idea and established its own pop-up store with their Dove Choc Bar at The Red, running September 12 to October 2. How does it work? You walk through the dusty and demolished Sanlitun Dirty Street, you manage to get to the door of The Red, you ignore the completely deserted queueing area, the TV playing endlessly looped Dove commercials, and finally, you arrive at the chocolate bar. It might be deja vu from last year, but you then choose one out of six chocolate flavors from milk, white, dark, 66% cocoa super dark, matcha (green tea), or strawberry as the base. The waiter will carefully tear a 14g Dove chocolate package in front of you, ask you to choose a liquid chocolate coating, and a powder and other toppings to decorate.

We chose the 66% cocoa super dark chocolate as the base, added liquid milk chocolate and matcha powder (since it’s trendy), then decorated with chopped roasted hazelnut and almond. “Heaven, I'm in Heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak…” played over the speakers as we faced this dessert. We didn’t feel the joy that chocolate would normally give us, but instead felt a bit irritated. Why? It’s complicated.

Maybe it was the absurdly tiny size – three tiny bites of chocolate (14g in total). Maybe it was choking on the matcha powder, or the indifferent serving staff wandering the massive, empty space without saying a word, or maybe it was the total lack of cutlery, forcing us to grab what is essentially a pile of powder and nuts with our fingers, or because the dim neon lights inside in pink and purple are just too 80s. Then came the self-questioning part: Why am I here? Where’s the dignity in being a food writer? Are you that easily swayed by recreations of last year's fad? No, it’s definitely not our idea of heaven.

To add insult to injury, you can spend RMB 48 for a drink or RMB 68-228 for some special chocolate dessert here. A rip-off? Maybe. It may seem easy to copy a brilliant idea, and utilize it on the road when your brand is desperate to get some attention from the naive, and (in corporate's eyes) stupid millennials. But mate, that's just not how it works, at least not in fast-changing Sanlitun, playground of Beijing's most sophisticated consumers. Don’t believe us? Just check out the queuing area. Its emptiness (in a city this crowded) should speak volumes.

If you fancy the chance to remix a tiny Dove chocolate for free, check The Red at Sanlitun Taikooli until October 2, 9am-9pm.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang