Starbucks may make money by selling cups after a limited number of paper cups were leaked this Christmas season.

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Recently, a "less dedicated" Starbucks employee leaked this year's limited paper cups for the Christmas season on Reddit. Unlike the traditional "Christmas red" in the past, this time, Starbucks abandoned the bright red background and chose to print simple strokes on a clean white background, giving this season's limited edition paper cups a more sense of design.

(picture from: Darth Spoopy)

Not only during the Christmas season, Starbucks launches seasonal limited edition paper cups on different holidays every year. In March this year, for example, Starbucks replaced its spring paper cups with blue, yellow and green paper cups.

But don't think that Starbucks is just wayward changing its design. The cup economy is another major contributor behind Starbucks' coffee business.

At this time, I came to Starbucks to buy coffee, all for this limited edition paper cup.

Starbucks has launched holiday limited paper cups for the 20th year so far.

Since 1997, Starbucks has launched a different paper cup every year in the Christmas season to celebrate Christmas, which is known as the "foreign version of the Spring Festival".

(2005 Christmas limited edition red cup, photo: CBS News)

Because typical Christmas symbols are often added-Christmas tree, elk, snowman and so on, these paper cups with strong festive characteristics are often warmly welcomed by consumers.

(picture from: Vox)

In 2015, Starbucks was protested by a large number of fans because it unusually launched a minimalist version of the Christmas red cup-the red cup has no design except the Starbucks siren logo. Although Starbucks wants to "leave blank" to welcome consumers to provide more "their own stories", consumers feel that Starbucks is too insincere to do so.

(photo from: Starbucks)

Trump, who was not yet president but already liked "meddling", also said in a speech:

Maybe we should boycott Starbucks.

(picture from: Business Insider)

After receiving a lot of complaints from star fans, Starbucks is really afraid to take risks. In 2016, Starbucks launched 13 different Christmas limited edition paper cups. Of course, they all return to the design with red background and Christmas features.

(photo from: Starbucks)

It is worth mentioning that this time the limited edition is not designed by Starbucks itself, but the winner selected from the work of 1200 folk designers. Sharon Rothstein, Starbucks' global chief marketing officer, said:

We hope that this year's Christmas cup design can express the spirit of sharing the beautiful atmosphere of the holiday together.

But Starbucks, which has returned to its Christmas cup design, has no plans to stop there. Howard Schultz, then CEO, stressed, "We need to be more special."

So before the 2016 presidential election, Starbucks launched a green limited edition paper cup painted with different races and people, symbolizing "unity."

(photo from: Starbucks)

Starbucks, which keeps abreast of the times and likes to play tricks, makes people who do not like coffee so much willing to go into the store and buy a drink at this time. It's all because of these beautiful limited edition paper cups.

(picture from: Pencilled Daydream)

Statistics show that Starbucks' sales figures look particularly good every Christmas holiday season. Although the achievement cannot be attributed entirely to Christmas limited edition paper cups, its role in boosting sales must not be underestimated.

Selling cups can also be a good deal.

In addition to holiday limited paper cups, Starbucks' mugs and thermos are also beloved of star fans.

Seasonal limit, city limit, joint cooperation fund. When you enter the cup world of Starbucks, sometimes you may even be in a trance. Does Starbucks sell coffee or cups?

The most famous is the city limited mug, the basic series of Starbucks. As Starbucks has opened its stores around the world, as long as you go to any of their stores around the world, you can basically buy urban limiting cups with local characteristics, which is also a memorable collection.

(photo from: Starbucks)

However, the wide variety of Starbucks cups and the rich product line really make countless "philatelic parties" love and hate. In addition to the city-limited models mentioned earlier, joint partnerships with other brands or designers will emerge from time to time.

For example, the straddling design version of the accompanying cup launched in 2015 and the famous fashion brand ANNA SUI has already paid for girls who like psychedelic flowers and striped lace designs.

(photo from: Starbucks)

Earlier this year, Starbucks partnered with New York fashion brand Alice+Olivia to launch a number of joint limited models, including mugs, accompanying cups and canvas bags.

May be found that girls' money is particularly easy to make, Starbucks every time the joint fund is particularly sniper girl heart. The Paul & Joe joint model cup launched in Asia this year is pink and tender, making it the trend of the spring cherry blossom season.

In addition, Starbucks always offers different pattern cups in different countries and regions and on different holidays. Especially in Japan and South Korea, where the design and consumer markets are particularly developed, Starbucks limited edition cups are always particularly eye-catching.

South Korea's Summer Starry Sky Limited Edition:

South Korea's "Nordic Snow country" fall limited edition:

South Korea 2016 "naughty monkey" limited edition:

Japan 2017 "You Are Here" local special restrictions:

All right, I'm suffocating. I'll buy it.

As a result, it has benefited a large number of overseas purchasing agents. The "overseas limited edition", which is coveted and unavailable, is now available on Taobao. For die-hard fans who love collecting Starbucks beauty cups, it's worth spending more on purchasing agents and waiting.

Of course, in addition to buying and collecting, Starbucks also encourages consumers to do a more meaningful thing by selling cups, which is to protect the environment and reduce the use of disposable paper cups. If you use your own cup (not necessarily Starbucks' own cup) to buy Starbucks coffee, you can enjoy a discount of 3 yuan (previously minus 2 yuan).

(photo: Weibo)

This year's Earth Day, Starbucks also launched a "bring your own cup of free coffee" campaign, but then the painting style seems to be a little wrong.

In any case, on the one hand, you can satisfy your collectivism, on the other hand, you can contribute to environmental protection, so why not do it?

Although Starbucks does not list the income of the cup separately, they must also be happy to see it succeed because they have earned a wave of word-of-mouth through cup marketing. Especially after Starbucks closed its online mall and became more focused on offline, cup sales in brick-and-mortar stores will also become a major driver of revenue. There is just a small question, can we also launch more good-looking limited-style cups in China?

The money is ready.