Starbucks’s new holiday cups have sparked an international debate. The company recently debuted this year’s red cup featuring a two-toned ombré design of poppy and cranberry, which has invoked outrage from holiday traditionalists.

In the past, the cups have featured a variety of designs such as ornaments, Christmas trees, snow-day scenery or reindeer. Compared to themes of the past, Starbucks has presented a blank canvas this time around.

“This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories,” Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks Vice President of Design & Content, said in a press release. “We’re embracing the simplicity and the quietness of it. It’s [a] more open way to usher in the holidays.”

However, what originally may have seemed simple has ignited a coffee cup controversy that originates from a video posted by Joshua Feuerstein, an American evangelist Internet and social media personality.

Feuerstein cites “the age of political correctness” as the reason for Starbucks’s decision to make the cups “just plain red.” 

“Do you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups?” Feuerstein said. 

In the video, Feuerstein challenges Starbucks customers not to boycott the store, but to give their name as “Merry Christmas” so that the baristas are forced to write it on their cups. 

The new cup designs arrived on Creighton’s campus shortly after Halloween and it seemed that students did not see a problem. 

“I honestly didn’t really realize a difference,” College of Arts and Sciences senior Katie Dillon said. “It’s still red and reminds me of Christmas.” 

For those who did happen to notice a change in tradition, they weren’t struck the way Feuerstein was. 

“I like the simple […] design,” College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Annie Klein said. “Just because something is simple doesn’t mean it isn’t festive.” 

Klein acknowledged the fact that people have different religious beliefs and she explained that people can easily “celebrate their religious or nonreligious holiday in other ways”—ways that are not related to or influenced by a Starbucks cup. 

Regardless of opinion, the plain red cups have received an array of media attention. National news organizations such as TIME, CNN and NBC have picked up and reported on the story. 

“I don’t understand why people are so up in arms over a cardboard cup,” College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Kailyn Tauber said. “It makes me disappointed in our society that we would get so infuriated about a cup that’s only job is to hold our coffee when there are so many bigger things going on in the world.”

“Just imagine if people gave homelessness, or bullying or starvation, as much attention as they are giving this cup,” she added.

Campus baristas have their opinions too. College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Jade Cameron spoke on the issue not as an official Starbucks representative, but as a Christian Starbucks employee.

“Starbucks carries red cups to celebrate the holiday season,” Cameron said. “We welcome customers of all religious beliefs. If Christians need a coffee shop to advocate their faith for them — or if they think that the spirit of Christmas is about being on products — it might be time for some self-reflection.”

Starbucks’s annual holiday-themed cup has incited debate on social media and off, as some customers have argued the simplistic design lacks traditional Christmas spirit. The hashtag “#MerryChristmasStarbucks” trended on social media platforms to express this frustration, which was countered later with the hashtag “#ItsJustACup.”

John Henry Theisen/The Creightonian