Starbucks Defends Plain Red Holiday Cups After #MerryChristmasStarbucks

Starbucks brewed up some controversy with its red holiday cups.

Some customers were concerned and offended by the plain, blank cups that usually featured seasonal decoration and the words "Merry Christmas." However, after #MerryChristmasStarbucks began trending on Facebook, Starbucks issued a statement explaining its decision to go plain this holiday season. 

"Starbucks has become a place of sanctuary during the holidays," Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks vice president of design and content said. "We're embracing the simplicity and the quietness of it. It's a more open way to usher in the holiday." 

Customers have flocked to social media to express their disappointment in the Starbuck's holiday "simplicity." An Arizona-based customer named Joshua Feuerstein managed to garner almost 500,000 shares on his video about the Starbucks cups. 

"I think in the age of political correctness we've become so open minded our brains have literally fallen out of our head," Feuerstein says in the video. "I decided instead of simply boycotting, well why don't we just start a movement."

"I'm challenging all great Americans and Christians around this great nation, go into Starbucks and take your own coffee selfie. ... Let's start a movement and let's call it, I don't know, hashtag Merry Christmas Starbucks," he added. 

In spite of various protests, Starbucks appears to have no plans for changing the red holiday design this year. According to a report from ABC, a Starbucks spokeman shared that the plan red cups serve as a "blank canvas: for customers to write their own stories this year.

"Over the past few years, our customers have been showcasing their work on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, and we even held a contest to support this creativity," the spokesman told ABC News via email. "This year's design is another way we are inviting our customers to create their own stories on our cups."

The spokesman also responded to the video from Feuerstein saying: "Our core values as a company is to create a culture of belonging, inclusion and diversity. Each year during the holidays we aim to bring our customers an experience that inspires the spirit of the season and we will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world." 

Tuesday, November 10 marks the official beginning of the holiday season in Starbucks in the USA.