“I always thought these were ugly”: Starbucks holiday bling cups 2022 spark debate online

Starbucks started selling their festival collection cups last week, and fans already seem divided over how they feel about the new drop. The coffee chain launches festive themed single-use and reusable cups each year, but some netizens didn't react too well to this year's reusable bling cups.

This sparked a debate on Reddit regarding the usefulness of the new cups. A user taking part in the debate admitted that they thought the bling cup was "ugly" but also wanted to get one for themselves.

On October 18, Starbucks unveiled a number of reusable hot and cold cups, all ranging between $19.95 to $29.95 (standard retail price). The cups have been available in stores across the country since November 3.

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Starbucks fans divided over the usefulness of the bling cups this season

This season, the coffee chain introduced their bling cups on their official website with the following description:

"Celebrate the holidays in style with the always popular Bling Cold Cups, now available in two new high shine, ultra-luxe metallic hues: gold and sangria."

One of the main reasons why netizens are dissatisfied with the festive collection is because the coffee chain has been launching similar merch for the last few years. Roughly a week after the launch of the bling cups, a serious debate started between Starbucks fans, following a Reddit post by a user, which said:

"Anybody else find these type cups extremely ugly and impractical or am I just a mega hater"

The post soon gained traction in the community as several users started engaging with the post and sharing their views in the comments. They cited several reasons, a majority of them related to the cups' monotonous design and flashy colors.

Like every good debate, there were people who were against the opinion, and they had their own set of reasons for the same. For some, it was a simple matter of personal preference, whereas others saw merit in the studded design. One user also claimed that the cup helped them with "ADHD and sensory issues."

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Starbucks has faced criticism numerous times

Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Starbucks is a multinational chain of coffeehouses with more than 33,833 stores in 80 countries (recorded in November 2021). It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.

However, the debate over the bling cups is not the first time the brand has sparked debate,

In the month of June, the coffee chain was alleged to be scamming customers. The chain was caught up in a serious controversy following a viral Tiktok video. In the video, the creator poured coffee into three different sized cups of the coffee chain - tall, grande, and venti - claiming that they held the same amount of coffee. The allegations were later proven to be baseless.

Earlier this year, the chain found itself in yet another controversy after it scrapped the vaccine mandate following the Supreme Court's verdict. The chain was met with huge backlash from netizens across the country. Many users took to Twitter to urge others to boycott the coffee chain. Subsequently, the chain had to go through several weeks of damage control.