If you haven’t seen them yet, Starbucks released a new holiday cup today…

Image via @Starbucks on Instagram

This might not seem very newsworthy, but Starbucks went through a slight holiday cup fiasco last winter. For those of you who haven’t heard about it, instead of their typical holiday cups decorated with reindeer, snowflakes and Christmas ornaments, Starbucks released a minimalist red cup last holiday season. There was a lot of backlash, including a video that went viral with over 16 million views on Facebook which claimed that Starbucks removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus.

This year, the cup is green and features an artistically drawn mosaic of over 100 people. “During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a statement.

Though they tried to change the cup (again!) with good intentions in mind, there is still plenty of backlash.

Images via www.q13fox.com

Personally, I do not think that people should care so much about the design of the cup. I think that it’s a little humorous how much controversy has come about because of it's design, and many people now are probably just poking fun. Their blank red cup was meant to remove Christmas as to not offend people who celebrate other holidays, and now their new cup is trying to spread a message that we are all one. Ultimately, I think that Starbucks should have just initially stuck with a winter themed cup design instead of trying to add too many elements of social responsibility into it, as their brand doesn't really coincide with that

!! Update !!

Starbucks surprised everyone with a new red cup design on November 10th. There are actually 13 different cup designs that customers could get, and each design has been created by actual Starbucks customers. The designs were created by customers from six different countries in order to “represent the collective spirit of the holidays around the world.” Some of the designs feature snowflakes, lights, ornaments, trees, and more.

Image from www.starbucks.com

“We hope that this year’s red holiday cup designs express the shared spirit of the holidays as told by our customers,” said Sharon Rothstein, Starbucks global chief marketing officer.

Since the customers were getting upset at the plain red cups and the green cups, why not let the customers design the cups themselves!?! I think that this is a GREAT marketing idea by Starbucks.

Sources:

www.instagram.com/starbucks

http://q13fox.com/2016/11/01/starbucks-green-cups/
https://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-red-cups-2016