Spring Festival is winding down. That pre-holiday routine is peering through the window of your final days off and tapping its wristwatch. The 996 calls. An M Stand × Wufang (无妨) collaboration is tapping into that slow-motion collision with a take on lying flat (躺平), China’s rejection of relentless hustle culture.
Lying flat is usually taken as an outright rejection of burnout-inducing overwork culture, or sometimes an excuse to do the bare minimum. M Stand and Wufang soften that to endorse composure when returning to work. The theme: ‘coffee for colour, composure for the workday’ (咖啡配气色，开工亦从容).
Wufang, if you didn’t know, make cosmetics. M Stand do coffee. This collab treats those two elements as parts of a daily routine and ties them together as such. Coffee and makeup. Makeup and coffee. Product-wise, we get a lip gloss inspired by espresso and latte tones from Wufang.
M Stand refresh their takeaway cup, folding in the collaboration’s visual identity with textured paper cups and neutral tones that align with Wufang’s minimalist style. They look slick – no doubt social media image wasn’t far behind the concept.
That starts down the obvious in-roads of an M Stand × Wufang collaboration, but the two brands have put out a third item: mini bed-shaped accessories (迷你床挂件) that use Wufang’s same muted tones and some neat leather to recreate the bit of furniture that inspired the lying flat meme way back when. Available in three colours, the mini beds work as card holders or bag accessories, and as subtle nods to your feeling about the dreaded return to work.
The M Stand × Wufang collaboration: broader trends at play
Stepping back, we can see a broader trend among brands in China: capitalising on the daily rituals. RIO did this to some extent with its CNY campaign. And over the past year Mixue, McDonald’s and others have tried to bring smiles to customer’s mornings with stories printed on receipt bottoms. You could also cite Luckin Coffee cup sleeve placements and a bunch of others.
The idea isn’t about making a big splash, reaching the masses, or winning over swathes of new customers. It’s about making a subtle nod to individuals when they’re in a mindset that makes them ready to relate.
