Make merry at Starbucks this holiday
With a swirl of candy cane ribbon, a pop of green, and a merry greeting – the holidays have begun at Starbucks. Starting tomorrow (Nov. 7) Starbucks stores will be decked out for the holidays with a fun and festive design worthy of that first sip of Peppermint Mocha (not to mention Gingerbread Latte, Caramel Brûlé Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte and Eggnog Latte).
Unwrapping the new holiday design
Jen Quotson, vice president of Starbucks Creative, said this year’s holiday design was created to evoke mini moments of joy for our customers and partners. It’s fun, festive and uniquely Starbucks.
“We came up with this idea of wrapping the stores in holiday joy and wrapping the cups like a gift to our partners and customers,” Quotson said. “We wanted coming to Starbucks to be like uncovering a present.”
The Starbucks designers looked at everything from iconic Christmas movies to music, along with more than two decades of Starbucks holiday cups. They also turned to their new creative expression, a reimagining of the Starbucks brand. After creating over 50 designs to consider, they landed on a series of four designs in shades of cranberry, white and Starbucks signature green.
Typography is used as the main illustrative element for three of the designs, with whole letters playfully rotated for a musical, song-like quality, while polka dots playfully cover the fourth. Each cup design has a unifying green stripe on the back, finishing the cup like a ribbon.
“We played with this idea of typography being art and the green dot of the Starbucks logo,” Quotson said. “We just thought that was a very sweet expression of the brand, but still felt very holiday.”
Polka Dots: The traditional Starbucks red cup is dotted with gree, with the Siren playfully popping in here and there.
Merry Dance: A lively pairing of red and green letters that jazz up a snowy white cup with a joyful holiday sentiment.
Merry Stripes*: From a distance, this cup looks like it's wrapped in green vintage wrapping paper. But up close, its tiny type offers a happy holiday sentiment.
*Not available in Quebec
Candy Cane Stripe: The colours of the holiday all come together with this design as the Starbucks wordmark falls like snow against stripes of candy cane red and white.
The designers also found other ways to bring the cups to life in the eyes of customers. For the first time, they also designed a series of holiday ads. This year’s ads build off the playful cup designs and include a green dot sledding down a mountain of whipped cream or red ribbon twirling playfully around a Starbucks cup. The designs carry over to a partnership with Instagram where customers can use a new interactive feature to animate elements of the cup to share through their accounts.
Limited-edition reusable red cup
But the best cup is a reusable one, and Starbucks is giving away a free limited-edition reusable red cup* to customers who order a holiday beverage at participating Starbucks stores on Nov. 7, while supplies last. Even better, customers who bring back their 2019 reusable red cup to a participating Starbucks stores after 2 p.m. Nov. 7 to Jan. 7 will get 50 cents off their handcrafted grande (16-ounce) holiday beverage.
*Quebec reusable cup design is white with the words “Joyeux Café” in green
Holiday food & merchandise
It’s not just the holiday beverages that are back! Festive food and bakery items are making their debut tomorrow as well, including the Holiday Turkey & Stuffing Panini, Cranberry Bliss Bar, Snowman Cookie, Gingerbread Loaf, Peppermint Brownie Cake Pop and Snowman Cake Pop. Starbucks® Christmas Blend whole bean coffee is on store shelves as well along Starbucks® Christmas Blend Espresso Roast, Starbucks® Holiday Blend and Starbucks Reserve™ Christmas 2019 (in select stores). Or shop from a cheerful collection of gifts, including cold cups, tumblers and Starbucks Cards, with more merchandise added throughout the season.
