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Some Starbucks customers are offended by their plain red holiday cups
What are the holidays for, if not intensely scrutinizing every brand's themed message for unwanted signs of political correctness? An early 2015 target is Starbucks' new holiday cup design, which is literally just a plain red cup with the company logo:
(Image credit: Courtesy Starbucks)
In a Facebook video that's already surpassed 10 million views since being posted Nov. 5, Joshua Feuerstein, who describes himself as a former TV and radio evangelist, claimed Starbucks released cups devoid of Christmas-specific symbols because they "hate Jesus." He also called on Christians and all Americans to tell baristas their names are "Merry Christmas," so employees have to write the message on the cups.
If Instagram and Twitter searches for the #MerryChristmasStarbucks hashtag are any indications, Feuerstein isn't totally alone in his mission.
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For Starbucks' part, an October news release explained the designs on the cups have varied from year to year, sometimes including ornaments, reindeer, and holiday-themed characters (but not more outright Christian symbols).
"This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories," Jeffrey Fields, the company's vice president of design and content, said in the statement.
Cups aside, the suggestion that Starbucks is anti-Christmas doesn't actually carry a lot of weight, as Snopes pointed out. After all, the chain still sells "Christmas Blend" coffee and Advent calendars.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
