Here’s why people are upset about Starbucks’ new holiday cups

Ah, autumn. One of the most beautiful times of year, marked by the leaves on the trees and my daily Starbucks cup both turning red. Since 1997, the international coffee chain and our #1 PSL dealer has served drinks in holiday-themed cups between November and December. In the past, the festive cups have featured snowmen, carolers, and reindeer. Usually, the changing of the cup is a joyous tradition, but this year’s new design is ruffling some feathers because of how plain it is.

I have a long list of Starbucks lovers, and they’ll tell you I’m insane for liking the simple red design; red ombré + the normal green label still equals Christmas colors in my book. The stark red cup is the target of tons of Twitter backlash from coffee addicts who prefer the cups of Christmas past, with snowflakes and mistletoe.

A British right wing news site called Breitbart is claiming that Starbucks is purposefully “cleansing” itself of Christmas décor for the sake of political correctness. Speculation like this has snowballed, and some of the darker corners of the Internet are calling Starbucks’ red cup a “War on Christmas.” Thankfully, Snopes is setting the record straight. Basically taking on the role of Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas, the site reminds critics that, “while Starbucks 2015 Holiday Cup doesn’t bear any Christmas symbols, the chain still sells “Christmas Blend” coffee, offers gift cards with holiday symbols, and even vends Advent calendars.” Just because the cup doesn’t sing “Silent Night” as you sip your gingerbread latte, doesn’t mean that Starbucks is anti-Christmas, or anti-any other holiday either.

Jeffrey Fields, vice president of Design & Content for Starbucks, explained the 2015 design quite poetically in a press release:

Fans of the red cup caught onto this concept naturally.

In a hilarious twist on the battle over the 2015 holiday cup design, women are pointing out that “red cup” is the name of a menstrual cup. So, any time someone tweets beef about how there are no angels printed on their red cup, feel free to imagine menstrual cups decorated for Christmas.

Not going to lie, I’d probably buy a bunch – holiday menstrual cups would make perfect stocking stuffers.

(Image via Twitter.)