Starbucks launches new holiday coffee cups to give customers room for creativity

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The holiday coffee cup launched by Starbucks this year is almost white. The company wants customers to color their coffee cups and give them room to be creative.

The new holiday coffee cup was launched on the 1st, according to the Associated Press. The matching heat insulation cup cover is red.

Starbucks has launched holiday coffee cups since 1997. The pure red coffee cup launched in 2015 was criticized as soon as it went on sale due to the removal of Christmas decorations such as snowflakes and reindeer, and even Trump, then a presidential candidate, called on people to boycott Starbucks. The coffee cup launched last year has been re-added with holiday decorations designed by customers.

This year, coffee cups are printed in black and white with a touch of red and green, including Christmas snowflakes and Christmas trees with stars at the top. Customers can fill their coffee cups with their favorite colors.

"We hope [customers] can paint on the cup to show what the holiday means to them," said Leanne Fremar, creative director of Starbucks.

The new holiday coffee cup has also sparked a heated debate on social networking sites. Some people like it, some complain, others simply joke.

Starbucks, based in Seattle, said it had started design work since January and decided to choose a version that would allow customers to paint on their own, because many customers like to draw on cups. Most of the company's nearly 5000 stores in the United States offer colored pencils to lend to customers.