Starbucks Red Cup Drama

Starbucks traditional red holiday cups have frothed over with controversy for the past few days, after some Christians declared the design wasn’t Christmassy enough. But the conflict cements the cultural relevance of the iconic red cups, and likely won’t hurt Starbucks’ brand in the long run.

Starbucks releases a new red holiday cup design each November, along with ‘seasonal beverages’ like Peppermint Mocha and Gingerbread Latte. The cups’ arrival is eagerly anticipated on dedicated red cup countdown websites, and celebrated on social media. Last year, a red cup was featured on Instagram once every 14 seconds, according to Starbucks.

Past designs have featured wintry and Christmassy imagery like snowflakes, Christmas trees and reindeer. But not this year.

“This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.” Starbucks’ vice president of design and content said in a statement. That translated to a plain red design with a subtle ombré fade, and no wintry images.

It’s worth noting that Starbucks sells a Christmas coffee blend and an Advent calendar. The red cups have never featured overtly religious imagery like crosses or pictures of Jesus. But some vocal Christians took the design as the latest example of political correctness gone crazy, and another blow struck in the ‘war on Christmas‘. ”And behold, Starbucks did conceive and bear a red cup, and called his name blasphemy,” wrote an author on conservative website Breitbart.

Evangelical pastor and social media personality Joshua Feuerstein wasn’t happy with the new design. He posted a video on Facebook November 5 saying he’d walked into an Arizona Starbucks legally carrying a gun, ordered a drink and told the barista his name was “Merry Christmas”. The barista followed Starbucks protocol and wrote “Merry Christmas” on his cup.

In the video, Feuerstein says Starbucks hates Jesus and that he’d tricked them into putting “Christmas” on a cup. He asks viewers to start a movement by buying drinks and giving their name as “Merry Christmas,” then posting the results with the hashtag #MerryChristmasStarbucks.