I’m baaaaack ! It is that time of year again. No, not Christmas...yet. November 1 marked the first day of the holiday cup season in Starbucks land and this year, we don’t have to draw on them.These patterns are already designed on the cup, and I'm not quite sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing just yet. In the past, Starbucks has received backlash against their design of cups. The outcry prompted the Twitter hashtag #ItsJustACup to rise in popularity. According to CNBC, the hashtag was used “more than 4,400 times” within a few days of the release.

Is it really just a cup?

Back in 2015, when the cups were a plain red color, the Starbucks holiday cup became a canvas for artists to show their Christmas spirit. Then in 2016, Starbucks used that idea and created a whole line of cups based off of what people drew on theirs. I myself wrote a "Merry Christmas" on the many red cups purchased during the season.

This year, the design is a call to color. The cup is red and white with pictures of holiday items. Starbucks is letting us have freedom once again, but this time to color to our hearts content. Originally when I saw the new cups I did not know what to think. It wasn’t until after someone told me I am supposed to color in the picture that a light bulb went off in my head.

So now what do I do with an empty Starbucks cup that is all decorated? I’ve been asking myself this question since 2015. Until I find the answer here is a picture of me trying to figure out what to do with the new cup.

Source: Whitten, Sarah. “Brands Take Advantage of SBUX Red Cup Controversy.” CNBC, CNBC, 13 Nov. 2015, www.cnbc.com/2015/11/09/starbucks-holiday-red-cup-brews-controversy-on-social-media.html.