With Valentine’s Day approaching, Starbucks recently released its annual holiday menu. And some customers are taking it to the next level by sliding a cake pop into the straw holder of their drink.
However, Starbucks barista and TikTok user Ben (@benthebarista1) advises against doing this viral trend in a slideshow posted on Jan. 28. According to Ben, the trend may be unsanitary.
In the first photo of the slideshow, he holds a venti iced vanilla latte with the cake pop placed inside the straw of the drink. “Put your cake pops in a straw!!” he urges in the text overlay. “We touch the sticks with our hands.”
Then, he unveils what not to do in the second photo. In the photo, he reveals a cake pop sticking out of a venti pink drink with vanilla bean powder and cold foam. “Don’t do this,” he urges.
However, he does recommend the beverage in general. “Definitely try this drink! It’s so good,” he says.
Baristas weigh in on Valentine’s Day hack
“Oh, so your store doesn’t use the tongs like ours,” one viewer wrote.
“We do not touch the sticks with our hands!? What,” a second remarked.
However, others said they aren’t concerned either way.
“OK, even if I did get this drink, I wouldn’t care. It’s not like the ‘contaminated stick’ in my drink is gonna kill me. I’m not a big germaphobe at all,” one user stated.
“My man just got me one [today] and I licked the cold foam off the stick,” another shared.
“Girl, I’ve licked the road this is the least of my problems,” a third said.
Starbucks responds
Because this trend has become viral, the coffee chain uploaded a video on its Instagram account, which mirrors Ben’s advice. The clip demonstrates how to take a photo op of your coffee and cake pop combo.
When a woman puts the cake pop into her drink without a straw, a buzzer sounds off and she wags her finger, and a giant red “X” indicates this is incorrect. But when she takes a straw out, folds it, places the cake pop stick inside it, and slides it into the coffee, a green check mark gets the stamp of approval.
Starbucks’ policy against mixing food and drinks
A Starbucks representative told Business Insider that the coffee chain has a strict rule forbidding this. Starbucks baristas can “handcraft blended beverages using ingredients offered at Starbucks stores including sauces, syrups, espresso, coffee and tea, Evolution Fresh juices, and bananas and blueberries,” but “food items in store (including baked goods and egg bites) are not approved additions to blended beverages at Starbucks,” the representative told the outlet.
The Daily Dot reached out to Ben via TikTok comment and direct message as well as Starbucks via press email. The video has racked up over 128,000 views.
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