Starbucks isn’t just one of the biggest coffee chains in the U.S., it’s also one of the most progressive. And as the holiday season rapidly approaches, this year’s festive coffee ad includes a nod to the LGBTQ community.
At the end of the 30-second “Give Good” clip, an animated interracial lesbian couple looks up at the sky together and draws closer over a steaming coffee mug. They then hold hands and lean in, as if they’re about to kiss.
“The holidays mean something different to everyone,” the commercial begins, before featuring illustrations of people of many colors, ages, sizes, and sexualities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53EgSWqQOwE
The ad helps celebrate the “color-in” designs of this year’s festive cups, in which customers will be given a blank cup in which they can fill in their own artwork.
Suffice to say, Starbucks drinkers around the world are loving the ad, in part because it inclusivity is subtle without being objectifying. In the end, it’s just two queer girls enjoying a winter evening together.
https://twitter.com/laurynbaldie/status/927169196332642306
Yes it’s only Nov 5th but Christmas ads make us happy! And Starbucks features a lesbian couple ❤️🎄👩❤️👩 https://t.co/ZewqwlalP7
— Lauren & Sarah (@2wives2mums) November 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/FODtheBook/status/927545139211354112
We're loving @Starbucks' new festive ad with a lesbian couple. Can someone draw us a @LadyGaga cup please? https://t.co/HLjTufRFu8
— British LGBT Awards (@BritLGBTAwards) November 6, 2017
Right-wing Twitter users, however, are already upset over the lesbian couple. Far-right posters have long-criticized the coffee chain for its secular take on the holiday season, blaming Starbucks for the “war on Christmas” supposedly happening across the U.S. So expect a lot of Pepe the Frog avatars to keep getting angry over this Starbucks ad in the coming weeks.
https://twitter.com/GillianHayley/status/927237062947954688
https://twitter.com/HelenWilson36/status/927419593081139201
Oh the alt-right is going to have there panties in a twist darling!!!!
— Ddub's Baby Doll (@EchelonPrincess) November 5, 2017
Holiday controversies aside, Trump supporters have also previously boycotted Starbucks by purchasing the company’s coffee and have even tried to deport undocumented Americans through a fake “Dreamer Day” ad.