Starbucks started pouring coffee in a new cup this week. Many consumers believed this green cup would be replacing Starbucks’ classic holiday coffee cup this year. US Weekly, NBC News and CBS Local have all published articles describing the outrage that customers have over their green cups. Starbucks’ reps say the cup is meant to promote “unity.” Considering the state of the current election, they feel we could all use a little bit of unity.
However, the green cup won’t be replacing last year’s plain red holiday cup, which will make its reappearance on November 10. After Starbucks removed images like snowflakes, Christmas trees, ornaments, etc. from their holiday cups, some customers declared that Starbucks was waging a war on Christmas. Some customers even gave their names to the baristas as “Merry Christmas” so that employees had to write it on the plain red cups and call it out when their order was ready.
Now, in the same breath, some people are calling for a boycott on Starbucks. A few Twitter users posted about the green cup, calling it “political brainwashing” and “shoving diversity in our faces.” On social media and major news outlets mentioned above, it seems the cup has received no positive feedback. Starbucks can’t seem to produce a new cup without someone pointing out the political correctness being overbearing. But is the controvery over Starbucks’ red and green cups as prevalent as the media makes it seem?
Last year, the Washington Post published an article acknowledging the idea that Christians honestly do not care what a Starbucks cup looks like. It seems that the major articles written about the boycott ensuing over the cup had no real evidence. Many of the articles cited testimonies from unknown, individual Christian evangelists. There was no religious group or mass of Christmas fanatics boycotting Starbucks over the lack of snowmen on their red cups. Christians responded to these rage-against-Starbucks articles with, well, more rage; their words were just aimed at the select few actually angry with the cup design instead of at the popular coffee giant.
Are the media repeating themselves this year with a perceived outcry over the green “unity” cups? The material feels recycled. Again, opinions from the few radical Christmas spokespeople have blown up to seem as though the coffee consuming community is on the verge of revolution. In reality, we’re all just drinking coffee out of a different colored cup for a few days. Although the green cup will be gone by the end of next week, Starbucks drinkers should take it upon themselves to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, which is celebrating unity and togetherness (while sipping a peppermint mocha nonetheless). Even though it isn’t the holiday cup, the green cups promote the unity we so often lose sight of, especially during this critical time in our nation’s poltical circus.
And for the few who are still annoyed by the green cups, here’s your solution: buy a resusable red Christmas mug. You can be a different kind of green and have your holiday cheer. Or, wait until November 10 when this year’s red cup will make its debut once again.