--- title: Starbucks Holiday Cup Controversy Mocked With #ItsJustACup description: Starbucks cup defenders shared photos of the new holiday cups on social media with the hashtag #ItsJustACup. canonical: https://time.com/4109109/starbucks-cup-itsjustacup/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-11T21:02:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:57:31.239Z og:title: Starbucks Holiday Cup Controversy Mocked With #ItsJustACup og:description: The backlash is getting its own backlash og:url: https://time.com/4109109/starbucks-cup-itsjustacup/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt067ea70a855ec056/69887012f887dc6988e9334f/starbucks_red_holiday_cups_2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3863 og:image:height: 2173 og:image:alt: Starbucks_Red_Holiday_Cups_2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Starbucks Holiday Cup Controversy Mocked With #ItsJustACup twitter:description: The backlash is getting its own backlash twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt067ea70a855ec056/69887012f887dc6988e9334f/starbucks_red_holiday_cups_2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Starbucks Holiday Cup Controversy Mocked With #ItsJustACup > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 11, 2015 9:02 PM UTC  Starbucks Red Holiday Cups Starbucks Red Holiday Cups Starbucks by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 11, 2015 9:02 PM UTC Starbucks’ 2015 holiday cups were criticized by [some Christians who argued the new design lacked Christmas symbolism](http://time.com/4104107/starbucks-holiday-cup-christians/) seen on cups in years past. The protest spread on social media, but now the backlash is getting its own backlash, with Starbucks cup defenders sharing photos of the new cups on social media with the hashtag #ItsJustACup. Some Twitter users even listed a variety of social issues that their authors believe people should care more about than the design of a coffee cup. Here are a few examples: > [](https://twitter.com/HilsAmanda/status/663788354232684544) > [](https://twitter.com/Ostrov%5FA/status/664078984871833600) > [](https://twitter.com/Genevieve%5FKay/status/664460593361911809) > [](https://twitter.com/hey%5Fits%5Fmanders/status/664086394885787649) > [](https://twitter.com/SHELBERT/status/663918095677808640) > [](https://twitter.com/yettagibson/status/663762313367818240) **Read more:** [See How This Year’s Starbucks Holiday Cup Is Different From the Past](http://time.com/4105283/starbucks-holiday-cups-evolution/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4109109/starbucks-cup-itsjustacup/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4109109/starbucks-cup-itsjustacup/"},"headline":"Starbucks Holiday Cup Controversy Mocked With #ItsJustACup","datePublished":"2015-11-11T21:02:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:31.239Z","description":"Starbucks cup defenders shared photos of the new holiday cups on social media with the hashtag #ItsJustACup","url":"https://time.com/4109109/starbucks-cup-itsjustacup/","keywords":["Living","Social Media","Food & Drink","Starbucks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt067ea70a855ec056/69887012f887dc6988e9334f/starbucks_red_holiday_cups_2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt067ea70a855ec056/69887012f887dc6988e9334f/starbucks_red_holiday_cups_2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Starbucks_Red_Holiday_Cups_2015","caption":"Starbucks Red Holiday Cups","creditText":"Starbucks","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4109109/starbucks-cup-itsjustacup/","name":"Starbucks Holiday Cup Controversy Mocked With #ItsJustACup"}}]}] ```