CMO Strategy Holiday Season Fans, Rejoice: Colorful Cups are back at Starbucks and Dunkin’

🎶 It’s the most colorful cup of the year. 🎶

Ok, that’s not how the song goes. But as any coffee fan knows, early November means it is time to slurp sweetened drinks from festive paper vessels.

Starbucks on Wednesday revealed this winter’s four paper cup designs: “polka dots,” “merry dance,” “merry stripes” and “candy cane stripe.” The through line at Starbucks is “merry coffee.” 

“For us, it both captured the sentiment of the season as well as reinforcing what people come to Starbucks for, which is coffee,” says Starbucks Creative Director Ben Nelson.

At Starbucks, which has released holiday cups to much fanfare (and occasional blowback) since 1997, the seasonal takeover begins Thursday in the U.S. and Canada after already hitting some other countries.

At first glance, the cups—narrowed down from 50 designs—don’t appear to suggest anything remotely controversial. In the past, Starbucks holiday designs drew negative reactions from a few for being possibly pro-gay rights (2017) and for having an ombré design some felt was not Christmas-y enough (2015). Time will tell how the internet reacts this year. Last year’s four cups didn’t appear to kick up much snow….[Read More]