--- title: Holiday Product Controversy: Starbucks, Target, Nordstrom description: It's not even Thanksgiving yet and already several companies have found themselves in hot water over their holiday merchandise. canonical: https://time.com/4116104/holiday-product-controvery-starbucks-target-nordstrom/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-18T19:32:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:26:58.624Z og:title: People Are Not Happy About These 4 Holiday Products og:description: 'Tis the season to be outraged og:url: https://time.com/4116104/holiday-product-controvery-starbucks-target-nordstrom/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Are Not Happy About These 4 Holiday Products twitter:description: 'Tis the season to be outraged twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # People Are Not Happy About These 4 Holiday Products > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 18, 2015 7:32 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 18, 2015 7:32 PM UTC It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and already several companies have found themselves in hot water over their holiday merchandise. Check out the products that are prompting this year’s biggest yuletide backlashes. ### Starbucks Red Cups Starbucks’ annual holiday cups stirred up some major controversy this year. Some Christians used social media to protest this year’s plain red beverage containers, which they say purposely didn’t include any overt Christmas iconography. The outrage sparked an equally outraged reaction from those who found the initial controversy ridiculous. And of course, comedians like [Stephen Colbert](http://time.com/4110455/stephen-colbert-starbucks-controversy/) and [Ellen DeGeneres](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ellen-has-the-best-response-to-starbucks-holiday-cup-controversy%5F56436385e4b060377347257a?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000029) couldn’t help but have a little fun with it. Some people were not happy: > [](https://twitter.com/traplifetrue/status/663049119162757120) > [](https://twitter.com/ElyonSpaGirl/status/662638197579620353) > [](https://twitter.com/kev1006/status/663180307051319296) While others were just outraged at the outrage: > [](https://twitter.com/Swishergirl24/status/664196665365032960) > [](https://twitter.com/rawhidevelvet/status/663472235341078528) > [](https://twitter.com/itsjameshayes/status/664133367621750784) ### Target ‘OCD’ Sweater Target is currently selling a sweater on its [site](http://www.target.com/p/ocd-ugly-christmas-sweater-red-awake/-/A-23942666?clkid=d1fbc8f6N782bdfef2a19eadc32335bdd&lnm=81938&afid=POPSUGAR&ref=tgt%5Fadv%5Fxasd0002) that defines OCD as “Obsessive Christmas Disorder.” Many believe the style makes light of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and trivializes mental illness. In an emailed statement to [TIME](http://time.com/4106089/target-obsessive-christmas-disorder-sweater/), a Target spokesperson said the company does “not have plans to remove this sweater.” People took to Twitter to express their disapproval of the store’s holiday product: > [](https://twitter.com/AllisonRaskin/status/663821001814241280) > [](https://twitter.com/%5Fbluelightblue%5F/status/658705358878216192) > [](https://twitter.com/philsadelphia/status/661544284030672897) > [](https://twitter.com/THECAROLDANVERS/status/664500862392344576) Target is just one of a number of retailers selling products with the phrase this holiday season, according to [_Adweek_](http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/consumers-arent-happy-target-sweater-makes-light-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-168038)_._ The restaurant Cracker Barrel also has [“Obsessive Christmas Disorder” items](http://shop.crackerbarrel.com/Light-Up-Burlap-Wall-Decor/dp/B013GY37YC) in stock. ### Nordstrom Hanukkah Sweater Although it has now been taken off the company’s site, Nordstrom sparked outrage with a Hanukkah-themed sweater featuring a menorah, the Star of David, dreidels and the phrase “Chai Maintenance.” Since “Chai” means “life” in Hebrew and is pronounced like “high,” the sweater reads as “high maintenance,” a phrase that angered some customers who saw it as playing on stereotypes about Jewish women. Many criticized Nordstrom online and flooded the company’s [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/Nordstrom) with negative comments about the sweater, according to the [_Chicago Tribune_](http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-nordstom-pulls-hanukkah-sweater-1113-biz-20151112-story.html?14473780191812). “I’m very disturbed by this sweater and the negative stereotype of Jewish women,” wrote a poster who called the item anti-Semitic. “Very disappointing to see Nordstrom’s would sell such a degrading item that makes fun of Jewish women,” said another. > [](https://twitter.com/JewishWomenIntl/status/665241991672930304) However, some didn’t understand why people were so upset: > [](https://twitter.com/geekgirldiva/status/665223868928274433) > [](https://twitter.com/oakclubhouse/status/665217316997627904) > [](https://twitter.com/kvetchingyenta/status/664982389165301760) ### Bloomingdale’s Spiked Eggnog Ad An ad from the Bloomingdale’s holiday catalog went viral—but for all the wrong reasons. The page features a woman looking away, while a man looks at her suggestively. The caption that is positioned between the two people reads: “spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking,” a line that many noted appears to encourage date rape. Twitter users blasted Bloomingdale’s for what the ad seemed to be implying. Following the backlash, the department store issued an [apology](http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bloomingdales-apologizes-weird-vaguely-date-rapey-holiday-ad-168146). > [](https://twitter.com/geekgirldiva/status/664468072149811204) > [](https://twitter.com/MxJackMonroe/status/664456050301657089) > [](https://twitter.com/10Yetis/status/664466598699343872) Others speculated about how it had been released in the first place: > [](https://twitter.com/Laradp/status/664476122118123520) > [](https://twitter.com/nycjim/status/664306711587500032) > [](https://twitter.com/DrRobson/status/664466157617958912) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4116104/holiday-product-controvery-starbucks-target-nordstrom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4116104/holiday-product-controvery-starbucks-target-nordstrom/"},"headline":"People Are Not Happy About These 4 Holiday Products","datePublished":"2015-11-18T19:32:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:26:58.624Z","description":"'Tis the season to be outraged","url":"https://time.com/4116104/holiday-product-controvery-starbucks-target-nordstrom/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Target","christmas","Companies","Nordstrom","holiday season"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4116104/holiday-product-controvery-starbucks-target-nordstrom/","name":"People Are Not Happy About These 4 Holiday Products"}}]}] ```