Starbucks’ FantasyTail Frappuccino turns heads in Malaysia
Pastel and pink food make for great pictures – which explained why Malaysians were more than excited to hear that Starbucks’ pastel and mermaid tail-inspired FantasyTail Frappuccino was finally hitting our shores after making waves in Taiwan.
Many Malaysians got their hands on this fun drink and shared their creative snaps of it since it was made available on Starbucks Malaysia’s Summer Menu on 29th May 2020. But not everyone can say that they got the IG-worthy shot that they expected – especially one Malaysian netizen whose order of the drink came with a “FantasyTail” that looked like a real fish tail.
FantasyTail Frappuccino from Starbucks Malaysia
If you haven’t heard about Starbucks’ FantasyTail Frappuccino (from RM18.55) yet, it’s a refreshing, seasonal drink that gets its pastel colours from a concoction of dragon fruit, mango and fresh milk.
To add to its magical charm and name, a pink mermaid tail-shaped chocolate bar and blueberry powder are topped on a bed of fluffy whipped cream. And the chocolate bar is considered the star of the frappuccino, as Starbucks had promoted the hashtag #FollowTheTail alongside the newly released drink.
Image credit: @iamcandywatchout
Melty FantasyTail Frappuccino takes a quick detour
But an unfortunate photo of the FantasyTail Frappuccino looking anything but magical was shared on Twitter by local netizen @hanifjamals. The pink mermaid tail that was supposed to match the siren in Starbucks’ iconic logo looked more like the tail of a floppy fish in his melty drink.
Image credit: @hanifjamals
It prompted him to joke in Malay, which can be translated into English as, “I want to try this ikan laga [fighting fish] drink. Hopefully it’s delicious and refreshing.” The post has now gone viral alongside the drink, with over 2,700 retweets and 9,400 likes at the time of writing.
Netizens have mixed reactions over new Starbucks drink
Netizens wasted no time to reply to his tweet to crack jokes too, with several commenters even sharing photos of their ikan lagas and acting surprised that their pet fishes are now swimming in a Starbucks drink.
This included Twitter user @ahmadsalahudd1n, who tweeted out a photo of his pet fish supposedly saying, “I’m shocked to hear this.”
Image adapted from: @ahmadsalahudd1n
Other Twitter users tried to offer hilarious explanations for why the mermaid tail was looking a little less like the expected thing, with @KimHajaaSeok tweeting: “Maybe this mermaid doesn’t know how to swim.”
Some also joked that it looked more like Ikan Patin Tempoyak, which is a local favourite dish with a fishtail often peeking out from the fermented-durian paste stew.
Image adapted from: @syedmustakiem
Starbucks’ good-natured respond to “sinking” mermaid tails
There were several Malaysians who also found their FantasyTail Frappuccinos not meeting their expectations. But Starbucks had a quick-fix for all of us the next time we’re trying to get an IG-worthy shot.
In response to a Twitter user @nisshahira_, who tweeted out that she was excited about the drink but found the sinking mermaid tail to be a “sad” sight, Starbucks Malaysia’s official Twitter account said, “Open the cap and just pull the tail back up”, along with a smiley face.
Starbucks’ FantasyTail Frappuccino with a mermaid tail gets mixed reactions
Starbucks’ FantasyTail Frappuccino has been living up to its hype, with many hailing it to be as delicious as it looks. And it’s certainly a much-needed refresher now that most of us are heading back to work with guidelines now relaxing under the Conditional Movement Control Order.
So while this viral photo of a FantasyTail Frappuccino is conjuring up some less-than-appetising links to real fishes, we’re excited to have it around for Starbucks’ 2020 Summer Menu. And we’re glad to see that Malaysians still have a good sense of humour even after getting cooped up at home for the past 2 months.
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Cover image adapted from: @juneeats & @hanifjamals