Attention! Alert the media! There is another controversy in the world and it has riled-up, opinionated consumers' names written all over it!

In late October, Starbucks released its ever-so-anticipated red cup to the public,only to be met with anger and cries of distress. Not too soon after the gradient red cup was released, a very small group of supposed Christians called out the design as an "attack on Christmas."

This is the cup:

In the past, Starbucks has released holiday-themed cups to contain their popular winter drinks such as the Gingerbread Latte and the Peppermint Mocha. Merry snowmen, snowflakes, stars, and reindeer have graced the cup and helped to spread the spirit of the holidays in a humble way.

This year Starbucks decided to forgo the classic designs and opted for a more sleek and clean look.

Whatever their intentions, good or bad, their choice has caused a recent outburst of offense throughout multiple different social groups.

The original "hate on the cup" came from a very small group of Christians who believe that the absence of the holiday designs are detrimental to the season. They claim that this is just another step towards a blank and monoculture world.

The Wall Street Journal found that "there have been 40,455 tweets between Nov. 5 and noon eastern time on Nov. 9 around 'Red Cup,' the sarcastic hashtag #MerryChristmasStarbucks or 'Starbucks Red Cup,'” citing the site Amobee (which analyzes the content that users are interacting with across more than 600,000 sites on mobile, video, Web, and social platforms).

Starbucks reacted to this outrage and released a statement earlier this month saying, "The cup is meant to be a 'blank canvas' that encourages customers to tell their Christmas stories in their own way.'"

While some are angered over the absence of classic holiday designs (such as snowmen or snowflakes), others are even more infuriated over the fact that such a large controversy has been developed over something as simple as a red coffee cup.

What we all need to remember is that it's just a cup.

Or is it?

Today's world is so worried about being totally politically correct. (An Odyssey writer wrote about this exact problem the other week:Political Correctness Is Becoming Too Correct). So is this just another move on the "becoming politically correct chess board"? Just like the alleged Washington, D.C.'s move to turn the Christmas tree into a Holiday tree, is the Starbucks cup diminishing the spirit of the season?

Or is it just a cardboard cup?

Whatever your opinion, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, St. Nick's Day, or Kwanzaa, understand that, to some people, the cup may mean more than just a cheap red holiday coffee cup.