If you've spent any time on the internet in the past couple weeks, you know that Starbucks has released it's special holiday cups and some people are NOT happy about it. The cups, which are a adorned with a minimalist design--a subtle bright to deep red ombre--have sparked an alarmingly popular controversy, and for what? Apparently, some people feel that the cups, unadorned with any Christmas or holiday decorations, are a personal attack against Christianity stemming from Starbucks' PC agenda. In retaliation of the 'war on Christmas', many customers have taken it upon themselves to "trick" Starbucks employees into writing 'Merry Christmas' on the cups by giving it as the name for their orders.
First of all, besides the fact that a red cup is the absolute last thing that anyone should be protesting given the current state of our society, this controversy is not only misguided, it's downright stupid. The last five years of Starbucks holiday cups have contained absolutely no outright reference to Christmas, so why is it that now suddenly the cups are so offensive to Christianity?
Exhibit A: 2014 Starbucks Red Cup, displaying a vaguely wintery display.
Not only is the lack of decoration nothing new, but anyone who says that Starbucks is supporting a war on Christmas is just plain ignorant. If you cared enough to actually step into a Starbucks, or simply google the items that they currently have for sale, you would see that they are selling multiple items SPECIFICALLY MADE FOR CHRISTMAS. For example, a lovely Advent Calendar is being sold in stores and online, as well as a special CHRISTMAS BLEND coffee! They are even selling special holiday themed gift cards that you can passive-aggressively hand out to all your non-Christian/non-Christmas celebrating friends! Clearly, the majority of people protesting Starbucks because of their 'war on Christmas' did not actually do any research, they just mindlessly joined in on a completely senseless movement that they saw on the internet. A movement, I might add, that completely ignores that fact that Starbucks exists in over 60 countries outside of the United States, some of which do not widely practice Christianity and therefore do not widely celebrate Christmas! So no, this is not a war on Christmas or Christianity, it is at most a small step in celebrating all cultures and encouraging inclusivity for everyone. In response to the controversy, Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks VP of Content & Design, has said:
“In the past, we have told stories with our holiday cups designs,” said Fields. “This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.”
Overall, it seems to me that at the end of the day, the only productive thing to come out of this controversy was a whole lot of free advertisement for Starbucks. For all the smug protesters out there who cheated the system and got a Merry Christmas cup after all, I'm sure they didn't mind writing Merry Christmas on your cup (and frankly didn't give a hoot about your sass) when you were paying them four dollars a cup to "protest" their company. Now that the controversy is winding down and you may be on the lookout for some other petty problem to be offended by, let me point you to some helpful links for some real problems happening in the world that actually matter:
To conclude, I should mention that Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday, but the lack of decoration on this cup *shockingly* does not bother me. Why? Because it is LITERALLY a paper cup that will be in the trash almost right after you finish your drink. The lack of Christmas decoration should not take away from your beliefs or holiday cheer, and if it truly has ruined Christmas for you, perhaps you should gain some perspective.
