Now that Halloween is officially over, it’s time for the next festive holiday. Thanksgiving? Absolutely not. As we all understand and have come to appreciate, the second spooky season is over, Starbucks eagerly unleashes its seasonal holiday cups and coffees, and it’s officially time to celebrate a joyous, festive winter.
Beginning today, Starbucks has launched its 25th rendition of limited-edition holiday cups and the return of seasonal items. The seasonal items include the Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte, and—returning for the second year—the non-dairy Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte.
This year’s seasonal cups feature red and green patterns with a gift-wrapping theme inspiring each. “We have always talked about the cups as little gifts, and we hope they feel like a festive present to our customers and store partners,” said Gary Jacobson, Starbucks creative director for this year’s holiday campaign.
You’ll find those gift-wrapping elements within each design, including sparkles, ornaments, snowflakes, and gift tags on the back of each cup. The wavy ribbons add a charming gift-wrapped influence, the retro starbursts and oversized trees give the cups a jolt of joy, and the micro-pattern adds a playful holiday motif to the otherwise plain white cups.
“We are really focused on creating a joyful experience throughout the entire Starbucks experience—whether a customer is visiting at our drive-thru or in our cafe,” said Jacobson. “Whatever we can touch, we wanted to make sure that we make someone’s day a little bit brighter in a holiday way.”
In addition to the new, cheerful holiday cups and beverages, fresh food items are also getting released on November 3rd, including a new Chocolate Pistachio Swirl, Cranberry Bliss Bar, Sugar Plum Cheese Danish, Snowman Cookie, and a Reindeer Cake Pop.
While Starbucks fans eagerly await the release of the new holiday cups (or even Fox-loving viewers looking for visual proof of a “war on Christmas“), it also might be time for the brand to start pushing the boundaries of how their festive packaging looks by shaking things up. For example, imagine an all-neutral, white design as a play on “White Christmas.” Also, the holiday cups have almost always featured reds, greens, and purple-y hues—an entirely different take would be intriguing. Also, they could even bring back their more intricate designs, as seen in 2016. Instead of oversized and bold holiday cues, simple patterns could be more engaging.
There’s a lot Starbucks could do in the name of creativity, and, as always, we’ll be patiently waiting until next year to see what the team comes up with. In the meantime, I’ll be curled up here with a Sugar Cookie Almond Milk latte in the Cozy Evergreen cup.
