Welcome to 2015, where Starbucks is continuing to be one of the largest and most beneficial corporations in modern culture. Starbucks recently announced a tuition-free four-year college benefit to all spouse and children of veterans and active military reservists who work 20 hours a week, the same they currently offer employees. They also just made it halfway through their goal of hiring 10,000 veterans or spouses. This is the same company with its own philanthropic foundation, store-based community service, continual international support, and goal of helping people get on their feet. So how did this surprisingly amazing company become subject to a Christian smear campaign?
Well, it all started with a new red cup. This very simple red cup, to be specific.
With this year's red cup season kicking off on Nov. 1, Starbucks released a very different cup than in past years. This year, they chose a very simple and classy look that didn’t require a lot of snowflakes or trees to honor the winter season. With the lack of “Christmas” cheer on the cup, one Christian man was up in arms about it. His name is Josh Feuerstein and in a video he posted to his Facebook page, he claims that without the decorations, Starbucks has become anti-Christmas and in turn anti-Christian. Yes, he got all that from a cup.
This isn’t Feuerstein’s first video to be posted claiming a war on something. He has around 2 million followers on Facebook due to his mini-sermons where he rants for a couple minutes about how anti-Christian a business or county is. Earlier this year, he was at the center of a small bakery having to close for refusing to make a “We Do Not Support Gay Marriage” cake.
This time around, he’s calling Christians to action by asking them to give their name as #MerryChristmas when buying coffee. He is asking his followers to go and spend money on Starbucks coffee to teach Starbucks a lesson. Clearly, it’s going to be a very beneficial lesson learned. While the goal to better spread Christmas cheer is clear, Feuerstein isn’t thinking of the big picture as he attempts to take on this mega company.
I’m all for freedom of speech and expression, but there comes a time when people who are fanatics need to be spoken against. Here’s my two cents: Josh Feuerstein is a Christian fanatic who needs to be more aware of the audience he has and the facts he spews. It is not acceptable to wage wars against cups and shut down small businesses because of his personal beliefs. One person’s beliefs are not everyone’s.
Starbucks is not an anti-Christian company for changing their cups. They are not anti-Christmas for being simplistic, they are simply in style. Don’t boycott a company that has been doing great things for our country and its veterans.
For real, their stores look like this:
And their coffee bags look like this:
And honestly, they have a Christmas Blend!
They are far from anti-Christmas and far from being a threat to mankind. Let’s have a very Merry Christmas and respect the beliefs of those around us. What can I say? I’m a idealist.
