Proving brands that plug a Christmas message can be as damned as those who don’t comes news out of the US that coffee chain Starbucks is in strife for its decidedly un-Christmas message.
The chain in the US has copped flak from Christian customers after it launched a bright red festive cup distinctly devoid of any festive messaging.
And the attack from the US Christian right has been fast and savage. “Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus,” wrote one aggrieved customer, Joshua Feuerstein, on a Facebook post.
Feuerstein also urges equally aggrieved Starbuck customers to give the name “Merry Christmas” when ordering to force staff to say the festive greeting.
Starbucks annual Christmas cup design has been something the company has been doing since 1997.
Others rightly tweeted that there were perhaps bigger issues in the world than the colour of a disposable coffee cup.
In a statement to media over the current furore, a Starbucks spokesperson said the straight red design was a “more open way to usher in the holidays”.
“Starbucks has become a place of sanctuary during the holidays,” the statement said. “We’re embracing the simplicity and the quietness of it.”
