Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Enough with the cups

Having communicated Starbucks’ highly anticipated holiday-themed cups gave American consumers a letdown this month, igniting a controversy behind its new minimalist design.

Starbucks is now receiving retaliation from those who believe that the coffee-shop chain is pursuing a politically correct agenda against the monopoly Christmas has on the holiday-season consumer market.

Do these allegations hold any validity, or is it just a fervor of misinformed nostalgia that gives people an excuse to rile themselves?

A Google search to past Starbucks holiday cups since the early 2000’s shows these cups to be of generic winter or holiday themes. There is not a single cup that has the word “Christmas” printed on it. Not one.

The pragmatic side of social-media caught wind of this and combated with the quickly trending #ItsJustACup, mocking the offended with correlating cup drawings, condescending wit, and other unmentionable forms of ridicule.

Theses solid-red Starbucks coffee cups are another example of a nauseating back-and-forth of the extent of political correctness. It’s apparent that American society is putting its nostalgia on a pedestal, even those of disposable drink-ware, as facets of their personalities. To a certain degree, I couldn’t agree more. But it’s also dealing with another animal of the human condition entirely: conflict.

This “controversy” is an excuse to vehemently display opinions against one another on the basis of having voices heard and nothing more. As the trend passes, the passion follows suit, where urges for “ranting” are fulfilled until the next “controversy” occurs.

As this debacle indubitably dies down, we must remember that these follies are unavoidable. The only plausible thing for those who aren’t engulfed in the majority of crass blowhards, is to sit back and watch the fire fly.

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