Over the past few years, for some reason or another, the Starbucks holiday cups have landed in the national spotlight and gone viral on social media.  Here's what your barista will be handing you in 2017! 

The new cups are rolling out in Starbucks stores across the Treasure Valley this morning.  There's no doubt about it that this year's cup screams "Christmas" as it features Christmas cards, a tree, beautifully wrapped gifts and ornaments.  The coffee chain's executive creative director tells the USA Today that the design itself is meant to be a throwback to some of the most popular cups over the years.

Kekeluv, Townsquare Media Boise
Kekeluv, Townsquare Media Boise
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One thing you will notice is that for a holiday cup, it only has a splash of the traditional Christmas colors with plenty of white space.  That's by design! This year's cup is meant to be an adult coloring page and the creative team hopes that people will take a break from their day to make their cup truly unique.

The new cup is being received much better than the holiday cups Starbucks rolled out in 2015. When the cups were released for 2015, they were plain red and void of anything even hinting that the Christmas season had arrived.  Fans were furious and #MerryChristmasStarbucks went viral.  The social media movement encouraged coffee drinkers to tell their barista that their first name was "Merry Christmas" so that they were forced to write the word "Christmas" on the cups.  That year Starbucks said the plain red cups were meant to be a blank canvas encouraging customers to tell their Christmas stories in their own way.  It was a marketing nightmare for Starbucks and personally, I think this coloring page concept is a much better way for people to get creative with the cups!

Starbucks Holiday Cup Causes Online Controversy
Spencer Platt, Getty Images
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By the way, Starbucks did a 180º from their plain red cups in 2016 and released three different, very Christmasy designs.  The extremely limited edition green cup was designed by University of Idaho graduate, Shogo Ota. Ota's artwork was so well loved that he was invited to recreate it on Starbucks windows in New York City's Times Square.

Like this year's cup? Grab yours today at any Treasure Valley Starbucks location! I got mine at Boise Ave and Apple Street location in SE Boise!

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