Starbucks Boycott? Starbucks’ $10 For A $15 Starbucks Card eGift Groupon Deal Sells 750,000
The Starbucks Christmas cup controversy has stirred up lots of buzz online and offline. Although Starbucks never specifically printed the words “Merry Christmas” on their cups, some customers criticized Starbucks for removing the Christmas-like trees and other holiday sentiments like reindeer from their cups. By leaving the Starbucks cup as a simple red cup with the Starbucks logo, the retailer was accused by some of being anti-Christmas. As such, some Starbucks customers claimed their names were “Merry Christmas,” forcing Starbucks workers to write “Merry Christmas” on their cups, reports NBC News.
Dunkin’ Donuts has waded into the fray, hoping to lure Starbucks customers away from the plain red cup controversy by at least placing the word “joy” on to their cups, even if it doesn’t explicitly say “Merry Christmas” on the cups. Starbucks has felt a backlash over the red cup controversy, especially when Donald Trump suggested a boycott of Starbucks over the “Merry Christmas” controversy. As a result, the hashtag called #ItsJustACup has mocked the Starbucks’ red cup controversy, reports USA TODAY?.
Oh Joy! @DunkinDonuts is adding to the holiday cups controversy https://t.co/HOKSO2u003 #MerryChristmasStarbucks pic.twitter.com/YIdQFDhF1U
— CNN Business (@CNNBusiness) November 12, 2015
In the midst of all the controversy, Starbucks launched a Groupon deal that promptly sold out, reports Groupon, by selling 750,000 of the deals that offered $10 for a $15 Starbucks Card.
“Wow! 750,000 Starbucks Deals Sold Out Fast”
The Starbucks controversy gained momentum when Joshua Feuerstein uploaded a video to Facebook claiming that Starbucks employees can’t say “Merry Christmas” to customers. Therefore, Joshua told the Starbucks employees that his name was Merry Christmas. He urged folks to use the hashtag #MerryChristmasStarbucks and upload their selfies to social media as a response. Joshua said Starbucks hates the Second Amendment, too, and that’s why he carried his gun into Starbucks — the walking embodiment of a “God, guns and country” type of believer. Joshua’s Facebook video gained more than 15 million views by Thursday, November 12.
“Do you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups? That’s why they’re just plain red.”
Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert has a new viral video on his YouTube channel that mocks the controversy, stating that Jesus wasn’t visited by three wise “snowmen” that melted in the desert.
“Starbucks wants to de-Christmas the holiday season with its bland red and green cups? Not on Stephen’s watch.”
Colbert’s Late Show, as reported by Rolling Stone, notes that Starbucks still sports Advent calendars, Christmas music, CDs, and the like.
Colbert calls Joshua “Paul Blart mall cop,” noting how much the viral video maker looks like Kevin James. Colbert also joked that Joshua was speaking so fast that it must not have been his first cup of Starbucks. Finally, Colbert quipped that Joshua’s suggestion really “stuck it” to Starbucks by encouraging folks to go buy more Starbucks.
Therefore, although Trump suggested a boycott over the Starbucks controversy, and promised everyone would be shouting “Merry Christmas” if “The Donald” became President Trump — despite the fact that Trump couldn’t think of one Bible verse, as reported by Bustle, and then named a non-Scripture when asked — the Groupon deal shows folks aren’t boycotting Starbucks.
“Maybe we should boycott Starbucks. If I become President, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”
Starbucks’ new holiday coffee cup minimalist design made some assume that Starbucks was launching a war on Christmas.
[AP Photo / Elaine Thompson]
