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Christmas Cup Controversy

11/14/2015

9 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch, Founder of Mindful Marketing
You’ve heard of the corporate coffee choice that has lit up social media like a Christmas tree.  Starbucks’ shift to plain red cups for the holidays has elicited emotions ranging from apathy, to amusement, to anger.  Of course, the question I’m pondering is whether these red cups represent Mindful Marketing.
 
First some background:  For many years, Starbucks has replaced its traditional coffee containers with holiday-themed ones for the final two calendar months.  Past images have been rather innocuous, for instance: snowmen, reindeer, snowflakes, carolers, etc.  Other than one cup that included a Christmas tree, the graphics have been rather generic and not directly connected to Christmas.
 
So, when Starbucks reprised its holiday tradition just a couple weeks ago, some were surprised that the new cups contained no images.  Instead, they utilize a simple, unadorned red coloring that’s brighter toward the top and darkens as it declines to the base.  Other than the seasonal color, there’s no connection to Christmas or any other holiday.
 
When most restaurants alter their paper products no one notices, or at best the change prompts mild curiosity, e.g., “What’s different about this?” or “I wonder why they changed these.”  As suggested above, however, some reactions to the new Starbucks’ cups have been severe, such as those claiming that Starbucks hates Jesus or that the company aims to take Christ out of Christmas.
 
In the meantime, one of Starbucks’ biggest coffee competitors, Dunkin’ Donuts, has introduced its own holiday cups, which are comparably more festive.  Dunkin’s white cups feature the word “Joy” in large letters, encircled by evergreen branches.  For some, the Dunkin’ design coveys more of the spirit of the holidays; although, it’s hard to claim that even this cup points specifically to Christmas.  While joy is a term that has unique, positive connotations for Christians, it’s also a sentiment shared by many others, including those with no faith commitment.
 
So, the key issue remains: whether Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks should serve coffee in cups that more clearly connote Christmas.  Here are some potentially helpful questions to consider in discerning the dispute:
 
  • What specific religious responsibilities do publicly held companies like Starbucks Corporation and Dunkin’ Brands have, given that they answer to a wide variety of stakeholders who represent many different spiritual commitments as well as nonreligious perspectives?
  • How would Christians feel about drinking coffee from cups that contained images from other faiths, e.g., Islam, Buddhism, etc.?
  • If companies could sell more coffee by simply imprinting their cups with explicit religious images (e.g., a cross, Shield of David, crescent moon and star), would we want them to do so?
  • Is it right for companies to profit from the gratuitous use of religious images?
  • Is it respectful to place religious symbols on common consumables, including paper packaging that’s impertinently discarded?
  • To what extent should the faithful look to commercial products for their religious inspiration?
 
Answering these questions can easily lead one to conclude that it’s not essential for either Dunkin’ or Starbucks to promote Christmas on their coffee cups.  In fact, in some ways doing so may be undesirable.
 
As such, it’s hard to call Starbucks’ plain red cups ineffective marketing.  Although some reactions have been harsh, most people seem to downplay the decision, while some even embrace it.  Furthermore, the considerable publicity the story has spawned will likely cause the coffee retailer to be even more top-of-mind, increasing sales and adding stakeholder value.
 
Similarly, it’s difficult to say that Starbucks’ decision has compromised societal values.  In fact, in keeping with the questions above, Starbucks’ red cups might be viewed as showing respect to more people, including Christians.  An increase in stakeholder value and support of societal values, therefore, makes Starbucks’ strategy look like “Mindful Marketing.”
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9 Comments
Keith link
11/17/2015 11:27:17 am

Great take on this issue David. Not only should we look at this issue from a marketing perspective, but I think it also gives us a chance to talk a look at the social media environment and the state of journalism. The Washington Post did their homework in these piece where they found media companies such as The LA Times reporting their was a boycott of Starbucks by Christian groups, yet the Post reporter could find no group with an official boycott. The race to break stories has always been intense, social media has turned hours to break a story into minutes. How much fact checking can occur in that time?

Reference:
Merritt, Johnathan (November 10, 2015) "Most Christians Don't Actually Care About Starbucks cups: Here is What We Know." Washingtonpost.com, Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/10/most-christians-dont-actually-care-about-starbucks-cups-heres-what-we-do-know/

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David Hagenbuch link
11/18/2015 08:29:51 am

Great observation and helpful resource, Keith. Thank you!

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Colin
12/8/2015 07:22:50 pm

I really did not know that this was such a huge issue right away. I thought a few people were just voicing their opinions and then the deeper it got into November, I realized that this was a much bigger issue than I originally thought. I really do not understand why this is causing people to react the way that they are. For Christians and non Christians, the color red is simply that, red. It doesn't convey whether it supports the idea of Christmas or not. Its simply a color that is associated with the holiday season. It's almost like people want to show that their offended so they can cause an uproar so that they can be on the news or something in seconds like Keith said above. For Dunkin', Starbucks or any other publically traded company, they are really handcuffed with what they can do. Everyone says that they need to be creative and thoughtful when it comes to specific holidays, but as soon as they do something so minor as changing the color to red or putting "joy" on their cups, everyone freaks out. I just think that companies are really being restricted by society because there is always someone that will be offended.

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Stephanie
12/9/2015 09:43:32 pm

I remember when I first read the story about the Starbucks red cups. I thought someone just had a strong opinion about it, and that it was not going to be an issue. However, more people started to talk about it, and there were a lot of different articles about it. When I go to Starbucks and order coffee I don’t really pay attention to the cup, and during Christmas I think it is a way to show the season with the cups. I never really paid a lot attention to it, until people started arguing how it was taking Christ out of Christmas. Personally I do not agree with individuals with this opinion.
After reading this article, I realized how a lot of times we do not realize that individuals with different faiths may find uncomfortable consuming a product that is in a way celebrating a specific religion customs. After taking in consideration this Starbucks was not doing bad marketing, the company was being more respectful to others. In addition, this created a lot of attention to the company I even went to Starbucks because of reading so many articles about the coffee shop that it made me want to go and get some coffee.

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Samuel
12/10/2015 11:58:12 am

When first hearing about this controversy, I was a little embarassed. I saw friends of mine on Facebook who had been upset about the fact that a non-Christian company wasn't explicitly celebrating a Christian holiday. But that's the problem. A secular institution should have no requirement to satisfy the general public or general Christian public's desires. While it may be in their best interest to appease these customers, I think customers should realize that the company has no obligation to put anything "Christmassy" on the cups. Furthermore, the customers shouldn't feel any obligation to buy the product if they don't agree with the companies values. It's truly the customers choice.

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Jessica
12/10/2015 03:07:52 pm

When I first heard of this issue, honestly I thought it was rather dumb. I mean its a cup! Personally I don't think that by changing the design Starbucks was trying to take something away from christmas. I actually think it is a great design, lately the minimalist style has been in, especially with the ombre coloring, going from light to dark red. I think it was a simple, minimalist way for Starbucks to make a festive design. It kind of makes me angry that people try to make a bigger issue out of a cup design instead of the more important issues that are going on in the world. Like I mentioned before, its just a cup for coffee.

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Darrin link
12/17/2015 07:02:11 pm

I feel it is important for publicly owned companies not to express their religious views through their products. When their are many shareholders that all of have different religious views it is hard to for the company to find a unified religious view. However the original Starbucks coffee did not represent Christianity at all. Their was no cross or ichthys on the cup, only designs of snowflakes and christmas trees. Also the new design looks better and less clustered then the previous designs.

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Reid
4/5/2016 12:30:23 am

I liked the question you brought up that flipped the situation to ask Christians how they would feel if they drank out of a cup that represented another religion. I think it is easy to get caught up in our own beliefs and be personally offended, while at the same time being ignorant of the times we do this to others. The company has no obligation to print any religious symbols on its cup, and at the end of the day it is only a cup.

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Abeer link
10/24/2017 03:22:16 pm

Interesting article thanks for sharing this i really appreciate you for this.....

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