Starbucks goes for safety in numbers with its annual holiday cup

Starbucks Corp. stirred up a controversy last year when people complained that its all-red holiday cups were too plain. It’s unlikely there will be any complaints this go around.



This year, for the first time ever, Starbucks has 13 different holiday cups, all of them red but each with its own distinct design. And in another twist, the designs were created by customers.



Taking a cue from customers who used their red holiday cups as a canvas for their own design last December, Starbucks invited customers to share their designs on Instagram. In just eight days, the chain received more than 1,200 individual submissions from 13 countries.



In the end, 13 customer designs were selected from six countries for this year’s holiday cup collection. The designs will be featured on the cups that are used in Starbucks’s approximate 25,000 stores in 75 countries.



“People will be walking around the street in Shanghai, New York and London carrying these cups,” said Dena Blevins, creative director, Starbucks Global Creative Studio. “We love that this year our customers’ artistry can play a part in brightening someone’s day.”



“We hope that this year’s red holiday cup designs express the shared spirit of the holidays as told by our customers,” said Sharon Rothstein, Starbucks global chief marketing officer.