McDonald's and Dove blend coffee and bathing in China

We've heard of milk baths and extra foamy lattes. But how about bathing in a latte while drinking an extra bubbly coffee?

In China, a unique partnership between McDonald's and Unilever has given customers exactly that by bringing McCafé coffees and Dove bath products together for a limited time in a collab that has spawned new products and intriguing activations.

In a press release last month, McDonald's announced the addition of a special limited time "Bubble Latte," an extra foamy coffee drink with "mellow and dense milk foam, silky rich layers and a sip as if you are in a bubble bath full of coffee," available in more than 1,800 McCafé locations nationwide until September 14.

Taking that idea a step further involved partnering with Dove bath products on McCafé latte-scented bubble bath, shower and facial cleansers "with the essence of Arabica coffee beans" for the skin to "drink" and enjoy. The bath products were availabe for pre-order through Unilever's Tmall store, whereby customers would also receive McCafé gift certificates.

Not content with cross-selling, the two brands opted to go well beyond the ordinary, launching "Bubble Bath House" pop-up shops in malls across 13 different cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou,Tianjin, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Dalian, Changsha, Fuzhou). Here, customers could not only sample the Bubble Latte, but jump into the 'latte bathing pool', a ball pit with white balls representing foam with a giant fake latte stream flowing into the 'bath'.

Other beauty stations allowed customers to sample the bath products in the activations. Reports say the campaign was aimed at people who wanted to stave-off the tiredness of late night studying or working by smelling the coffee-inflused skincare products, drinking a coffee, and thus feeling 'refreshed'.