Starbucks, Jesus and Demagoguery

“Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus!”

Joshua Feuerstein doesn’t mince words. This American “former pastor” who currently describes himself as an “Internet and social media personality” just took up arms against the popular multinational company.

The target of his anger are the new holiday cups Starbucks recently released. The company has accustomed us to typical holiday illustrations. But this year, its famous “emblematic” red cups don’t include any designs.

Joshua Feuerstein’s furious frothing on this subject has unfortunately gone viral. He immortalized it on video, and millions of people have already seen it. When people ask you your name at Starbucks so they can write it on a cup, respond with “Merry Christmas,” he suggests to potential customers.

As if the flood of commentaries on social media were not enough, Republican candidate Donald Trump got involved. He brought up a possible Starbucks boycott. “If I become president, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again. That I can tell you,” he told his supporters Monday.

Before hurrying to Starbucks to express your dissatisfaction, let’s examine the legitimacy of these allegations. Because without a shadow of a doubt, this is all a tempest in a … coffee cup.

First, the illustrations on the cups used by Starbucks have rarely made explicit reference to Christmas. Instead, customers got variations on the theme of the winter season — a snowman, for example, or a child and dog sliding down a snowy slope.

Second, Starbucks said that this year, the company wanted to invest in a more stripped-down design: notably, to give its customers the opportunity to decorate their own cups, explained a spokesperson from the company by email. Because, yes, that’s a current trend; many people share their creations on social media.

Besides, a simple visit to Starbucks these days is all it takes to understand that no war on Christmas is happening there. You can get bags of their “Christmas Blend” coffee or buy a gift card decorated with a Christmas tree.

Joshua Feuerstein’s video is a good example of the demagoguery that fuels a good number of the big-name conservatives in the United States in the lead-up to the holidays. The ultimate paradox is that Christians are showing how much disproportionate importance they give to the commercial values of this religious holiday.

A Twitter user did a good job of summarizing the superficiality of the debate underway: His message was one of the most popular on the social network about the controversy: “If you need a coffee chain to be your ambassador of Christ you need to re-examine your relationship w/God.”