One of America’s most beloved coffee chains, Starbucks, kicks off the coldest season of the year with a unique winter design featured on their hot drink cups. Designs on previous cups have included snowflakes, Christmas trees and even a few reindeer all covering a signature shade of red. In October, Starbucks put an end to the anticipation of what would be on the 2015 holiday cup and revealed a “Back to Basics” cup with a simple red cup and a hint of ombré around the bottom.

Upon the announcement of this year’s cup, some coffee-lovers have expressed hatred towards the minimalist cup, calling it ‘anti-Christmas’ and ‘war’ on the Christian holiday. Others even refer to the topic as the cup-gate 2015.

Jeffrey Fields, the Starbucks vice president of Design and Content said, “In the past, we have told stories with our cups designs,” Field said, referring to a previous holiday cup illustrating the story of Jesus. “This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.”

Although the plain cup wasn’t intended to offend any customers, people remain outraged at Starbuck’s lack of Christmas spirit, while many others, including international pop star Demi Lovato say, “Why do we care this much about a cup…?”

Megan Rosen, Staff Writer

Sophomore Megan Rosen is a staff writer for the 2015-2016 Colonel. She is on the volleyball team.