Starbucks Wages 'War' with Red Holiday Cups 

Because the world clearly doesn't have bigger problems, a former Arizona pastor launched a movement against Starbucks, which he claims "hates Jesus."

What has Starbucks done to offend religious conservatives? It has stripped the reindeer and festive designs from its cups, opting for a minimalist red design to complement its existing green logo. 

In doing so, the coffee chain has effectively killed Christmas.

In a viral Facebook message, Joshua Feuerstein has urged customers to get the last laugh by telling baristas their name is "Merry Christmas," tricking employees into writing and calling out the festive message on cups.

The hashtag #MerryChristmasStarbucks is nothing short of a protest against the coffee chain.

But Starbucks is treating the red cups as a "blank canvas" in which customers are urged to exercise "their own creativity" to add festive decals as they see fit.

"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," said a statement by Starbucks officials. "This year's design is another way we are inviting our customers to create their own stories on our cups."

Since 1997, the cups have sported a holiday theme, but that costs time and money. I'm only surprised that anyone cares all that much about what their cups look like before they land in the recycle bin. Frankly I'm more concerned about what's inside the cup...

But Starbucks does have a point. The holidays mean different things to different people, and not Christmas isn't celebrated by everyone. So I personally have no problem with people switching up "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays." 

By all means bring along your own festive cup, wear mistletoe on your head and your reindeer sweater till your heart's content. But know that the red cup isn't a "War on Christmas." The red cup isn't an all-out attack on Jesus and in fact, Jesus doesn't even figure for everyone (and what does Jesus have to do with reindeer, anyway?).

And, as this TODAY presenter pointed out, leftover cups from the holidays can conveniently be used when Valentine's Day rolls around.

^{Image Source: Instagram} 

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