Shanghai-based skincare brand Herbeast (东边野兽) is starting the Year of the Horse by looking away from the fireworks and festive feasts and towards the shoreline with a new collaboration with Quanzhou-based Balangyu Coffee (巴浪鱼咖啡). And just to throw things even further sideways, The Herbeast Balangyu Coffee collab is grounded in the lived experience of Minnan fisherwomen.
The concept comes in the form of a co-branded gift set, but the product is only half the story. The framing leans heavily on what the campaign positions as a fisherwoman spirit – a mix of endurance, practicality and emotional steadiness shaped by a life at sea. It’s a notable shift from the high-gloss, symbolism heavy approach that typically dominates Chinese New Year marketing.
The physical set reflects that intent. Items include a handwoven fishing net bag, fabric storage pieces, skincare products and single serve coffee – all tied loosely to coastal materials and routines. Rather than overdesigning the experience, the brand keeps things tactile and referential, letting texture and origin do most of the work.
Where Herbeast pushes further is narrative. The campaign spotlights women across three generations in Minnan, using documentary-style storytelling to anchor the release in real lives rather than abstract symbolism. Craft, writing and survival become the through lines – not as grand statements but as accumulations of small, repeated acts.
Why the Herbeast Balangyu Coffee collab doesn’t need to be flash
For a category driven by mood and metaphor, this is quite a literal turn. And that’s the whole point. By rooting this campaign in regional culture and female experience, Herbeast trades spectacle for specificity. In a holiday marketing cycle crowded with ads and drenched in product pushes, that’s the kind of restraint that gets you noticed.
