Is there a secret gay agenda on Starbucks’ Christmas cups?
Starbucks launched its festive cups campaign earlier this month, with an advert featuring a same-sex couple.
The coffee company said the “the cup is just the beginning”, alongside the animated ad featuring a variety of couples.
And it seems some are convinced the cups are “the beginning” of the gay agenda.
The hands by the top of the cup are, according to some people, a same-sex couple holding hands like the on in the promotional ad.
Cue outrage.
One user asked if “”Christians” bitching about @Starbucks red cup & inclusive message yet?”
Another commented that they couldn’t be sure of the gender of the hands, so they were concerned it “could be an abomination”.
Another user celebrated the “lesbian couple on cup”.
Starbucks refused to confirm or deny the gender of the hands on the cup.
The company said in a statement to BuzzFeed: “Each year during the holidays we aim to bring our customers an experience that inspires the spirit of the season, and we will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world.”
The ad says: “The holidays mean something different to everyone”.
As well as a lesbian couple, the ad includes a straight couple, a woman video chatting with elderly relatives and a father and daughter.
Starbucks has supported LGBT+ rights, and has in recent years supported Pride in London.
Leanne Fremar, the Starbucks executive creative director, told the Drum that the ad is “an ode to the years”.
The brand has faced boycotts in recent years for supporting same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues in ad campaigns and directly.
Malaysia earlier this year joined Indonesia in an attempted boycott on the giant coffee chain over its support for LGBT rights.
In 2014, Starbucks collaborated with police in Seattle, to turn all its coffee shops in the city into ‘safe spaces’ for the victims of homophobic crime.
The chain also launched an ad campaign featuring two famed drag artists.
But in response, including to CEO Howard Schultz’s defence of same-sex marriage, a pastor claimed that Starbucks coffee is “flavoured with the semen of sodomites”.
