With the holidays creeping up on us, social media experiences a merry controversy over Starbuck’s annual “red cup reveal.”
Apparently the 2015 holiday line of red cups has ruffled quite a bit of feathers by “removing Christmas” from the cups.
So the “red cup” first made its big debut back in ’07, giving an extra element of cheer to its customers with its decorative holiday designs.
The designs never skipped a year, where there was a red Starbuck’s cup, there was a holiday design –until now. Now it’s just red and some customers are pissed!
According to CNBC, “This year’s design is simplistic: an ombre from bright red to dark cranberry.” Some have tweeted that the new plain design is a “war on Christmas.”
Yikes! Here Starbuck’s was intending for the blank red cups to be a “blank canvas for customers to create their own stories, inspired by the doodles and designs that customers have drawn on white cups for years,” just to find out it was possibly their worst idea yet.
“In the past, we have told stories with our holiday cups designs,” said Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks vice president of Design & Content.”This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.”
But wait, we have some extra sugar for your tea!! A former TV and radio evangelist, Joshua Feuerstein, claims that, “Starbucks removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus,.” He then asked his fans to use the hashtag: #MerryChristmasStarbucks. He doesn’t stop there, he then advised them to ask baristas to write “Merry Christmas” on their cups instead of their names.
“I think in the age of political correctness we’ve become so open-minded our brains have literally fallen out of our head.” Feuerstein said in a video he posted on FB. “Did you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups? That’s why they are just plain red.”
A statement was release Sunday from Starbuck’s:
“Creating a culture of belonging, inclusion and diversity is one of the core values of Starbucks, and each year during the holidays the company aims to bring customers an experience that inspires the spirit of the season,” The company said in a statement on Sunday. “Starbucks will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world.”
Do you guys think Starbuck’s was being offensive by removing the holiday graphics from the red cups?!
Source: CNBC, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/09/starbucks-holiday-red-cup-brews-controversy-on-social-media.html
TSR intern: Chantel P.! Instagram: @_POPchanny | Twitter: @POPchanny
