On August 28, the topic "Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Responds to Netizens' Honey Rat City Meme" topped the trending list. Some netizens replaced the character "snow" (雪) in Mixue Ice Cream & Tea (蜜雪冰城) with "rat" (鼠), creating humorous images by combining cute pet images like hamsters and fancy rats with bubble tea cups, thus creating the homophonic meme "Honey Rat City" (蜜鼠冰城).
Regarding this situation, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea's customer service stated: "We will take this situation seriously, as we need to register and provide feedback to the company's relevant departments, and have the responsible personnel verify and follow up on this matter."
Some netizens expressed concern, saying "When I first saw it, I thought there was a rat in the drink, which doesn't feel good," and "No matter how cute hamsters are, they're still rats. When combined with beverages, it only makes people think that the sweetness and uncleanliness of the drinks might attract rats."
Meanwhile, other netizens commented, "As long as it's not malicious attack, there's no problem," and "The rats in the pictures are very cute."