Starbucks’ red cup causes continued controversy across social media

The Starbucks red cup has become as much a part of the Christmas tradition as turkey and family fights over whether or not that thing your nan said actually was a bit racist. To some people, anyway. I imagine. I mean, it’s got it’s own Twitter countdown account which in turn has it’s own website.

So it should come as no surprise that when the design was changed very slightly this year, the world at large has freaked out. And when the world freaks out, what else does it take to but Facebook and Twitter?

In 2014, the cups had the silhouette of a Christmas tree in dark red covering the cup, whilst in previous years still designs included sledging and baubles. This year, and prepare yourself for this, this year, the cups are plain.

 

♥️ 5 days, 24,000 entries, 5 winners. ♥️ See all the Red Cup Contest love at: https://t.co/8uSg4UJpjo pic.twitter.com/9rudOfeRLb

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) November 13, 2015

I mean just look at it. Does it not appall you? All…plain and…red and…I mean just look!

 

Off to make someone’s day. ❤ #StarbucksCard #RedCups pic.twitter.com/L7lnKqzZkU — Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) November 5, 2015

Well at least one internet personality is appalled by the change.

An American called Joshua Feuerstein has taken a starring role in the controversy. Feuerstein’s website describes him as “an American evangelist, internet and social media personality.  In recent months, Feuerstein has gained Facebook fame and half a million followers as a result of his motivational videos that deal with interpersonal, social and religious issues.” Feuerstein’s page has nearly two million Likes on Facebook.

Feuerstein focusses on controversial religious issues to drive traffic to his videos; for instance in one he spends a good five minutes of his life debunking the Theory of Evolution. His video on on the Starbucks red cup controversy can be found below.

In the video, Feuerstein claims that Starbucks have banned their employees from wishing anyone a Merry Christmas and believes he has "pranked them" by telling them his name is Merry Christmas. He also claims to have taken his gun inside the Starbucks, in order to teach them a thing or two about second amendment rights. "Do you realise that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups?" he raves, adding that political correctness has made all our brains fall out of our heads, which can happen, I've seen it. Starbucks responded to the controversy in November with a statement clarifying that Starbucks “wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories”, and encouraging buyers to draw their own doodle on the cups. However, Feuerstein's campaign wasn't done yet. In his video the encourages Christian Americans to do as he did, and share the photos with the #MerryChristmasStarbucks hashtag in an attempt to begin a "movement" against Starbucks and their apparent hatred of Christmas. The campaign has fallen flat.In the past month the hashtag has been used just 20,000 times on Twitter, peaking on November 9th and dropping off ever since. Considering Feuerstein's video has been viewed 16.5 million times, that's a pretty poor transfer rate, even taking into account the huge quantity of people who are likely to disagree with his video. Starbucks are far from in the clear, though. Conservative news site Breitbart has launched its own self acclaimed "politically incorrect" Starbucks cup this week, sporting the Breitbart B wearing a Santa hat. The reaction from customers and Starbucks to Breitbart's cup is definitely one to watch.

Is this all bad news for Starbucks?

Not necessarily, as the saying goes, "the only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about." Feuerstein's campaign or the less seriously upset tweets of other social media users are unlikely to have any lasting impact on Starbucks' reputation, or their association with the festive period in customer's minds. Want to find out more? This article goes into the implications for Starbucks in greater detail.