At long last, it is the holiday season. White lights and decorations are hung everywhere, the malls are bustling with people, Christmas music is on every other radio station... and the Starbucks cups are flowing?
For most of the population celebrating the holidays, Starbucks is certainly not one of the first entities that comes to mind when thinking of visions of sugarplums or when decking the halls. However, as of late, the company has come under fire for being just that. Annually, Starbucks releases their "holiday" red cups in early November. In 2015, these red cups first showed face on Nov. 3.
When the cups were released, an outrage ensued. In past years, the red cups were adorned with winter-themed small holiday images such as snowflakes, Christmas ornaments, and snowmen. The 2015 red cup defied all norms; it is plain-looking, with a slight ombre from bright red to a dark red.
Some consumers have embraced the minimalist and simplistic design. Others, however, have declared that Starbucks is "waging a war against Christmas." In all honesty, that claim is ridiculous.
Understandably, those who believe that claim are right in the sense that Starbucks has minimalized it's holiday cups in design only. However, it is important to note that Starbucks never openly printed Christian holiday-related images, only strictly winter-themed images. Had their cups sported Christian holiday-related images and then were suddenly absent of these symbols, my stance on the controversial subject would be largely different.
The cup controversy has taken social media outlets by storm. Tweets and hashtags from both sides of the debate have flooded Twitter timelines and many an article on the issue have been shared on Facebook timelines. The debate has reached all realms of society, including Hollywood and the political world. According to Us Weekly Magazine, Christian actress Candace Cameron Bure sees no issue with the red cup design because it is "just a cup, folks." Candace argues that the real Christmas spirit is spread through the word of Jesus, not a coffee cup. According to USA Today, the issue has reached higher platforms than social media, kickstarted by presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposal of a "boycott on the company." Really, Mr. Trump? Not quite the Christmas spirit.
The very notion of this cup controversy shows where our loyalties lie as a nation. As a Catholic myself, I do not consider the design of a disposable coffee cup to mandate how my religious holiday is perceived across the globe. For those upset about the design as a "war on Christmas," they should realize that a white design on a red coffee cup is not the epitome of the Christmas season. As the nation becomes more materialistic, so do our notions of "Christmas spirit."
People, it is a cup. Just a cup. A small container that holds hot liquid and then is disposed of in a trashcan after your delicious drink is drank. A cup is not Christmas (if it is for you, there may need to be some reevaluating). The new, simple red cup design can also be taken as the simplicity of the holidays and their meanings that many people now-a-days fail to remember. In a statement, Starbucks Vice President of Design and Content, Jeffrey Fields, claimed that the minimal red cup design allows for the imaginative doodles and designs often created on the normal blank white Starbucks cups.
Starbucks is not "waging a war on Christmas." The company seasonally offers a special Christmas Blend coffee in a variety of mediums (whole bean, K-Cups, etc). That is the Christmas Blend, not the Holiday Blend. Financially speaking, the plain red cup design also is a smarter, more cost-efficient investment by using a smaller budget for the same amount of cups. The 2015 red cups are not taking a jab at the Christmas season--they are still red with the green Starbucks symbol. The simplistic design is more universal.
In the grand scheme of things, a design (or, in this case, no design) on a Starbucks coffee cup is pretty insignificant. There are so many events occurring world-wide that deserve the nation's attention very much more so than the Starbucks "Cup-Gate." Starbucks is not "waging a war on Christmas," they are showing versatility in their designs. Christmas and the holiday season are not defined by a coffee company. #ItsJustACup
