Recently, Starbucks released their new holiday cups that have caused loads of controversy over the internet. Below, I give you the offending cups.

(Pretty hardcore, I know.)

Over the past few days, people have split up into two sides: those who are offended that there are no signs of "Christmas spirit" on the cups, and the one's who understand that it is ,in fact, just a cup. I will try to argue both sides without giving too much of a biased point of view. Bare with me.

The argument on the opposing side is simple. Why is there a great lack of Christmas on these Christmas cups? In the past, there have always been designs on the cups symbolizing the winter month and the holidays (i.e. snowmen, snowflakes, santa and his reindeer- the usual). So why is it that this year they have decided not to put anything on there at all? Another argument is that Starbucks is against Christianity ,and is trying to take out the "Christ" in "Christmas". Joshua Feuerstein, a TV/radio evangelist, quotes, "Starbucks removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus. Did you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups? That's why they are just plain red." (Ouch, Mister). They are even talking about boycotting Starbucks until the design is changed.

On the other side of the argument, people are trying to convince the public that a cup, is just a cup. They argue with this question: Why make such a big stink over something you'll drink out of and throw away? Excellent question. This side also points out that Starbucks has never had any cup design that featured Christian symbols in the first place. The color red is generally noted as a holiday color. So, why are they making a commotion?

Now that you know what people are saying, here's what Starbucks has to say. Jeffrey Fields ( the Starbucks VP of Design & Content) explains on their website that “In the past, we have told stories with our holiday cups designs. This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories." What does this mean? Well, Starbucks cups are notorious for being the subject of other people's artwork. People doodle on them, paint them, personalize them ,and then display them. So by making the cups plain red, it can be used as a canvas for other people's stories instead of Starbucks just giving you one. It can make the cup more personal. Fields continues with, “Starbucks has become a place of sanctuary during the holidays. We’re embracing the simplicity and the quietness of it. It’s more open way to usher in the holiday.” It also has been recognized on twitter that the cups have the same plain red design as the new Christmas blend coffee package. Could it be that they were trying to be uniformed in their design?

Here's my opinion. As a woman who's father is a Christian pastor, I see absolutely no inclination that Starbucks is deliberately slapping Christianity in the face ,and my father agrees with me. Red is a holiday color just like orange is used for Thanksgiving and Halloween.

When you see the red, you should already think Christmas. You shouldn't need fancy designs to spell it out for you. Besides, their past cups have had absolutely nothing to deal with Christianity because (surprise surprise) not everyone is a Christian. It is also a known idea that the universal holiday characters are snowmen, Santa Claus, and Rudolph, and those aren't on the cup either. There really should be no conflict. And if you're really upset that there are no happy snowmen on your throwaway cup, then grab a crayon and draw one. Speaking of drawing, I love the of wanting their customers to draw their own Christmas stories.

Drawing on a Starbucks cup has become the new "hip thing," and the company has recognized that. Why is it bad that they are trying to give their customers a plain canvas to personalize their own holiday cup? Ellen DeGeneres really spells it out in her video on youtube and I highly recommend watching it. It's basically my opinion but written with better humor.

Are you offended by the cup?