The fabled Starbucks watermelon mug has a complicated history, and perhaps an even more complicated future. Coffee drinkers online are hoping to get the opportunity to buy the mug soon, but do we actually know anything about a potential release date?
The official Starbucks website does have pages dedicated to the watermelon mug, one for the 12oz mug and another for a 24oz watermelon plastic cold cup. The larger plastic shows a pretty basic design with a red cup with a green straw, whereas the small mug doesn’t have a picture currently. Neither are available to buy right now.
The mug in question is a cute little thing. It’s got a picture of a watermelon slice printed on it, the bottom half is green whilst the top half is red with black seeds. The red and green are separated by a white line. It’s aesthetically pleasing so it’s understandable why people would want their own.
The watermelon mug has been around for a while
Whilst you can’t purchase the mug now, you could about eight months ago, it was released in the UK on May 5th as part of a Summer collection. The watermelon mug has actually already been released and you can find secondhand sellers on the likes of Amazon and eBay if you’re desperate for one of these cute little mugs.
Of course, you may be inclined to wait and see if Starbucks brings the mug back, surely it’s just a matter of waiting for them to re-stock the popular item right? And besides, Summer isn’t too far off now, maybe the coffee chain will re-release the popular mug around the same time it did last year.
Whilst that is a possibility, it’s not likely to happen now due to the controversy surrounding it. I mentioned at the start that this item has a complicated history and you may be wondering how a mug could possibly cause a controversy. After all, it’s just a mug right? Wrong. Buckle your seatbelts and let’s venture down this rabbit hole.
The controversy
So if you haven’t heard, Starbucks is currently being subjected to a boycott from customers worldwide. The reason for this boycott is down to the company’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
To give a brief summary, Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents Starbucks workers, sent out a social media post supporting Palestine. This prompted Starbucks (the actual company) to sue the union for trademark infringement claiming that the post had damaged company sales.
Most corporations and figures in the public eye would try to stay impartial on world events like this, but Starbucks suing its own workers union for supporting Palestine is not a good look and many have since vowed to boycott the company.
So how does the watermelon mug fit into all this?
Since 1967 the watermelon has been a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, the colors used for the mug design are the same colors featured on the Palestinian flag. Due to social media confusion, people online have mistakenly assumed that the mug is new and that the company is trying to appease the boycotters by showing support for Palestine.
One X user wrote, “The desperation is desperating. Nice try Starbucks, but we are still boycotting.” whilst another wrote, “im still in denial about Starbucks using a watermelon on their mugs.” People online are under the impression that this product is an attempt to save face and appease the boycotters. But even if it were and Starbucks did a complete 180, those boycotting clearly would not be so quick to forgive.
Although, to be clear, the company hasn’t changed its stance. It doesn’t look like the watermelon mug is back despite what everyone is saying online, the pictures being shared are from last year, before the conflict in the Middle East escalated.
Spokesperson for Starbucks, Jaci Anderson confirmed with Snopes that the mug is from last Summer, but that the company does sometimes see stock being sold out of season. It’s likely that there was extra stock and so the items remained on sale out of season.
Will the mug return?
Considering the backlash the item has caused it doesn’t seem likely Starbucks will make the mistake of re-releasing the mug anytime soon, even in the Summer. Neither the larger cup nor the smaller mug are available on the website now and the picture for the mug doesn’t even appear on the page anymore.
If you ask me, it looks like the company is attempting to bury all evidence that it ever existed. Anyways, maybe it’s time to go back to Dunkin’ Donuts instead.