Starbucks Holiday Drinks & Cups: A Timeline of Controversy, and eventually, Memes

Announcing the start of its holiday season, Starbucks has released its 2021 lineup of holiday drinks and treats as well as its equally important newly designed holiday cups.

Starting November 4, 2021, customers can enjoy the taste of their holiday favorites, including Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brute Latte, Irish Crème Duo, Chestnut Praline Latte, and Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, along with the company’s first-ever, nondairy holiday drink, Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte, served hot or iced.

This year’s Starbucks holiday cups are designed to look like a present, complete with ribbons, stripes, and gift tags for writing holiday messages. It has even added a touch of lilac to its designs, in addition to its standard red, white, and green colors.

These cup designs have not come without issues. Who could forget the controversy of 2015, when an online evangelist targeted Starbucks claiming that the company started a “War on Christmas?” This complaint was due to Starbucks’ decision to transition to neutral holiday cups that, as the company puts it, introduced “a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.”

While the controversy gained some traction throughout the 2015 season, many have come to realize that a cup of coffee is just that – a cup of coffee. Now, six years later, the controversy over the “War on Christmas” has become a meme, with funny memes racing across the internet, such as:

• “How the ‘cup’ stole Christmas”
• “BREAKING: Starbucks releases their holiday cups. The first shots have been fired signaling the war on Christmas has begun.”

Rather than cup designs, the controversy this year is over the loss of customer favorites, Eggnog Latte and Gingerbread. Some customers are so upset that they’re planning to boycott Starbucks for the holiday season and online petitions are popping up. There’s even a meme or two on Twitter declaring that the loss of Eggnog Latte is the real “War on Christmas.”

Starbucks executives state that they carefully evaluate their customers’ priorities every year when crafting their holiday menu. They encourage customers disappointed in the missing holiday drinks to ask their local barista to help them find alternative drink options.

While customers may be upset about the absence of the traditional Eggnog Latte, it’s highly unlikely that true Starbucks customers will go the entire holiday season without trying some other holiday treats or requesting a customized drink that matches their tastes.