For almost 20 years, Starbucks has embraced the holiday season with a signature red cup. Since 1997, the designs have ranged from mistletoe to ornaments, adding a personal touch to the standard cup of coffee.
Last year, Starbucks received a lot of negative attention by removing this holiday tradition. Instead of seeing a creative and festive design, customers were greeted with a solid, red cup. Starbucks Vice President of Design, Jeffrey Fields, stated that the cups we meant to “usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.” Even though this sounds like a good PR move on paper, it turned out to be a disaster.