An image shared on Facebook claims Starbucks released demon-inspired cups for the Christmas season.

Verdict: Misleading

While the designs are real, it was created by a tattoo artist not connected to Starbucks.

Fact Check:

Starbucks closed a location in Seattle that was the first store to unionize in the city, according to CNN. Approximately 262 Starbucks locations in the U.S. have successfully voted to unionize, CNBC reported.

The Facebook image, shared more than 400 times, shows three red Starbucks cups with various designs. The Facebook post partially reads, “Starbucks Coffee releases their Baphomet Yule cups in time for Christmas –under the theme.’ I LIKE MY COFFEE BLACK LIKE MY SOUL.'”

The cups, though, were not released by Starbucks. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the image is from 2015 and was posted to Instagram by Mike Tidwell, a tattoo artist. There is no indication that he is employed by Starbucks.

 

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A post shared by Mike Tidwell (@mikeatidwell)

A Starbucks spokesperson confirmed to AFP Fact Check that the company did not have any connections to the cups in the Facebook image. Tidwell also told AFP Fact Check that he was not employed by Starbucks. (RELATED: Did Starbucks Say It Was Ending The Upcharge For Plant-Based Milk To Fight’ Dietary Racism’?)

“I got bored one day and decided to pick up a Sharpie marker and draw on my cup. I posted it on social media, as did my friends and it got noticed by the public,” Tidwell told AFP Fact Check. “And along with it came the rumors that Starbucks made them. Totally false.”

Starbucks has released holiday cups for the past 25 years, according to its website. Starbucks also released its annual holiday cups for 2022, and none of them resemble the cups in the Facebook image.

This is not the first time the coffeehouse chain has been the subject of misinformation online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim suggesting the company would be going cashless in October 2022.