It’s heading to that time of year! Christmas trees out way earlier than they should be, the question of whether my offspring will consent to a photo with Santa, the Christmas carols that invade my brain in the worst way possible, and of course, the bloody, brutal War On Christmas. And at the forefront of this fierce battle is that Christmas hating Starbucks.
Let their hatred consume you
There is only one Starbucks back in Sydney that I am aware of. There had been quite a few more, but they didn’t perform very well so were shut down. Sydney had a pretty thriving coffee culture before they arrived, so they had a lot of competition. We visit Starbucks here in the US to indulge my husband’s love of cappuccinos (you can’t get them at every coffee place here, much to our surprise), but normally choose Dunkin Donuts Coffee over theirs – my husband has suggested that a “Venti” is short for “ventilated”, on account of their cappuccinos being composed mostly of (expensive) froth (“A cup of your finest air, please”). Dunkin Donuts is not so fashionable, though (fortunately neither are we).
I was lucky to be here in the US last year to witness some of the all-out rage that ensued when Starbucks made the very anti-christian statement of….making their holiday cups plain red. Not from any of my friends, thankfully. There has already been preemptive outrage because they have released a limited edition cup mistaken by some to be the official holiday cup, which was – green with pictures of people on it. The outrage! War on Christmas!
War!
I don’t get how people can muster so much anger over this. If the cup featured a picture of a nativity scene with a velociraptor included, then yeah – that would be a pretty clear statement about the company’s stance regarding Christmas. But a red cup? A lack of snowman, Christmas tree or reindeer graphics seems like a pretty lame attack. Especially since none of those things featured in the original story of Christmas anyway. Santa wasn’t one of the three wise men.
I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with this year. But I am sure Starbucks is not thinking about Christianity. Or trying to make people mad. Or leading a war on Christmas.
I am convinced that when they decide on a design for the holiday cup, the focus is very little on taking Christ out of Christmas, and 99.9999% on choosing a design that will coordinate well with the fall and winter fashions the more stylish women who patronize their company will be wearing.
She wouldn’t look as alluring with a Dunkin Donuts cup
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OMG I literally cannot wait to see what level of batshit crazy people are going to go this year over SXBX and their holiday designs.
I’m holding out for baby Jesus riding a raptor!
I was absolutely tickled by their outrage last year! Can someone tell me why Christians were mad about the lack of commercial holiday decorations on their coffee cups?
I am so glad I don’t know any christians who would be offended by that because I think my head would explode!
Getting upset about a freaking cup is ridiculous. Let’s worry about some real problems, shall we.
I know, there are plenty of those without finding something to be offended by!
I really like the green cup 😊
The whole war on Christmas thing is ridiculous. If I say Happy Holidays, I’m not excluding Christmas, I am just including whatever other holiday you might possibly celebrate. I think Christians sometimes forget that they are not the only people that matter, it’s a bit self-centered, if you ask me.
Yeah there is a fair bit of entitlement to it. The christian friends I do have wouldn’t give a crap about a cup design, but obviously there were enough who did!
My little hick town finally got a Starbucks, but it’s not quite like a big city Starbucks yet.
Me: I’ll have the Salted Caramel Latte.
SBX: Here you go.
Me: This doesn’t taste like a SCL…?
SBX: Yeah, we didn’t have the salted stuff, so we just put caramel in there.
Me: Not the same at all.
Me: I’ll have an Iced Vanilla Latte with no ice (I ONLY ask for it that way because I put it in the fridge and drink it later).
SBX: I have to check with my manager to see if I can make that. Hold on a second.
Me: WTF?
SBX: My manager said I can make it that way, but I am not going to fill the empty space up with milk. It’s going to look like half a drink.
Me: TMI there, Girly. Just do it and don’t talk about it. Gawd. (Yes, pouring another 1/2 inch of milk in my $6.00 coffee will break Starbucks. I’m scamming them for an extra shot of milk).
Growing pains. I don’t care what color their cup is. Just be Starbucky like in Virginia.
You milk-guzzling scam artist you!
I didn’t go to Starbucks in Australia much so I can’t really compare the two, but I know we don’t have the pumpkin spice latte.
It’s amazing how much effort people have to go to so that they can be offended by something. I’ve been given shit by people for abbreviating Xmas because I’m Xing out Christ. Puhleaze, I am just being lazy, not making a statement. Sure does seem like we are living in the land of the eternally offended these days.
I’m an atheist, and I don’t mind if people say “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” if they are wishing me well. I just don’t care either way. I find it hard to understand people who do.
I’ve had people yell at me for acknowledging there are other holidays in December besides Christmas. I’ve also had people yell at me for saying “Happy Holidays!” because I must be some kind of monster if I don’t specifically wish them a merry Christmas.
To be clear I do hope they have a merry Christmas and a nice New Year’s as well, and I still hope that after they’ve yelled at me.
I believe these are some of the same people who get upset about Starbucks putting out a plain red cup.
It’s enough to make me dread the season of kindness and joy and generosity.
Yeah it makes it a tad less touchy feely. I really don’t mind whether people say happy holidays or merry christmas, if they are genuinely wishing me well. I never say happy holidays, but that is simply because I’m in the habit of saying merry christmas. But including other holidays is not exactly a slap in the face to Christianity that enough of them seem to think it is.