With the chilly weather rolling in, the first thing most people do is run for hot cocoa and coffee. Everyone knows that Starbucks is the land of endless possibilities when it comes to flavors and name misspellings, and those two things are the reasons we keep coming back for more. Every year around Thanksgiving, Starbucks begins selling their coffee in holiday-themed cups. For a while, the cups displayed your typical Christmas decor. They had everything from reindeer-driven sleighs to mistletoe and Santa Claus. This year, though, Starbucks decided to switch up their fun Christmas cups and go with a more modern, neutral look – a plain red cup.

The cup is, from bottom to top, a maroon red that slowly fades into a lighter, more festive red. They still display the signature Starbucks logo and are still filled with warm, delicious energy. After releasing their newest cups, Starbucks was bombarded with hate for “taking the Christmas” out of their cups. Accusations ensued of Starbucks “waging war on Christmas,” according to some critics.

Starbucks claims they never meant to do this. According to an article by CNN Wire, Starbucks VP Jeffrey Fields, responded to the criticism by stating the company “wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.” He went on to explain that “the cup is meant to be a ‘blank canvas’ that encourages customers to tell their Christmas stories in their own way.”

Even so, many people are very enraged by this decision. Central is a very diverse school with students who come from Christian, non-Christian, and non-religious backgrounds, and no one from our school seemed to be offended by the cups.

“I think they’re pretty, to be honest,” stated Central senior Emma Beach. “There’s so much wrong in this world, and we are complaining about a cup.”

“I feel like it was propaganda made by Starbucks to promote themselves. Literally no one is offended by the cups, and it’s pretty stupid,” shared former Central Pounder Elijah Berry.

School continues amidst the national controversy, and we sleep-deprived students will just continue to enjoy the coffee and throw away the cup.