Every year, Starbucks rolls out a new design on their iconic holiday cups. For the 2015 holiday season, Starbucks has replaced last year’s holiday design of snowflakes and reindeers for a chic, ombré red cup. This was a change that was not appreciated by some Christians, making it the latest social media scandal to go viral.
With all the attention the issue has gotten in the past week, Starbucks put out a statement on Nov. 8, The Story Behind the Design of Starbucks Red Holiday Cups, to help clarify the issue at hand.
The company is known for changing the design on their holiday cups every holiday season since they first introduced them in 1997.
“Since 1997 Starbucks has served its holiday beverages in a unique cup, starting with a jazz-themed design in jewel tones of deeper reds, greens and blues,” the company said. “Every year since, the cup has told a story of the holidays by featuring symbols of the season from vintage ornaments and hand-drawn reindeer to modern vector-illustrated characters.”
The changes have stirred controversy among Christians on social media who are fighting the “removal of Jesus” from the Starbucks cups. 
As stated in the official Starbucks statement, the choice to remove the designs wasn’t meant to “remove Jesus” from the cup, but to encourage costumers to express their creativity and expression on the “blank canvas” provided by Starbucks on their holiday cups. 
“Taking a cue from customers who have been doodling designs on cups for years (…) this year’s design is another way Starbucks is inviting customers to create their own stories with a red cup that mimics a blank canvas,” the company said. 
Starbucks is a popular source of caffeine for college students nationwide. At California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State), the love for Starbucks is not any different, and with the holiday cup issue spreading all over social media, Stan State students have their own stance on the issue.
Jessica Mendez (junior, English) has been working at Starbucks for five years and this is the first year she has experienced the public reacting to one of their cups. 
“This is my fifth year working for the company and we have never had anything relating to Christmas and now people are freaking out even though they change them every year,” Mendes said.
Many costumers have shown up to Starbucks across the nation and are unloading their concerns with the Starbucks baristas who had no part in any decisions regarding the cups.
“People are overreacting, from a barista’s point of view, it’s just not fair because we don’t create the cups and people keep asking about them and requesting for Christmas sayings to be written instead of their names as a form of protest,” Mendez said.
Carina Aikawa (junior, English) believes that Starbucks is doing the right thing by including everyone and not being exclusive to a single holiday. 
“I think it’s really nice, I applaud them for being inclusive by allowing all holidays and for giving people the chance to creative on the cups,” Aikawa said. 
Regardless of the negative attention the cups are getting, there is no sign of Starbucks changing back their holiday cups.