Apparently, Starbucks is the Grinch that stole Christmas. That’s so according to some peeved American citizens who believe that the coffee chain is apart of an agenda to rage a war against Christmas.
Although Starbucks isn’t the only business to come under fire recently, the removal of snowflakes and Christmas tree on their traditional red holiday mug has somehow caused frenzy.
Republican presidential hopeful (or catastrophe rather), Donald Trump has even voiced his opinion over the matter, adding to the conspiracy theory that there is a “war” against the festive holiday season.
As trivial as it may seem the controversy is, shockingly, real.
When the cups rolled out in late October, Starbucks (SBUX) vice president Jeffrey Fields said the company “wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.”
Joshua Feuerstein, a former pastor who calls himself a “social media personality,” took exception.
He posted a video to Facebook on November 5 that went viral. Feuerstein criticizes Starbucks for removing “Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus.”
Feuerstein encouraged customers to say “Merry Christmas” instead of their names in order to “trick” baristas into writing the phrase on the cup. He said to use “#MerryChristmasStarbucks” to post photos online. – CNN Money
Who knew thousands would share the same sentiments upon the Facebook post going viral? It’s almost comical that the release of the cup would even be an issue, wouldn’t you agree?
In an email with CNNMoney on Sunday, Feuerstein noted that his video has had more than 10 million views.
“I think Starbucks has gotten the message that the Christian majority in this country has awakened and are demanding that our voice be heard,” he wrote.
In response to Feuerstein’s video, Starbucks said in a statement Sunday that it tries “to create a culture of belonging, inclusion and diversity.”
The cup is meant to be a “blank canvas” that encourages “customers to tell their Christmas stories in their own way,” Starbucks said.
And yet the debate continues…
With retailers such as Nordstrom holding off on their Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving, conspiracy theorists continue to debate and share propaganda on why they believe there is a war against Christmas.
With unexplained disappearances of airplanes, unarmed Black men being gunned down, the bombing of churches, children kidnapped and sold into the sex trade industry, and many other catastrophes occurring around the world, it’s mind-boggling that here we are debating over the design of a coffee cup.
Really? You would think we’d have much more important issues to worry about.
What are your thoughts on the controversy CK readers, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
(Photo: Starbucks/Instagram)
