Starbucks' New Bumblebee Cake Pop Is Causing Quite The Buzz
While Starbucks is best known for its wide selection of customizable coffee beverages, the chain also offers quite a few baked goods to satisfy customers with a sweet tooth. Their cake pops are particularly sought-after, as these delightful treats offer the perfect sugar fix in a bite-sized package. They also come in many cute designs, including a variety of whimsical animal characters. The latest buzz-worthy addition to the chain's cake pop selection is equally adorable, albeit a little confusing if you ask Starbucks' customers.
While they're now a beloved staple at the coffee shop chain, cake pops weren't always on the menu. This item was added in 2011 as part of the brand's petites category, according to Fast Casual. Petites were intended to be a way for customers to enjoy a snack that offered reduced sugar and calories due to their small size. They can also be altered according to the holiday or season to entice customers with fun promotions. Because summer means big fat bumblebees bouncing from flower to flower, it stands to reason that the chain would honor these ecologically important critters with their very own cake pop. However, there seems to be a disparity between the name of the new cake pops and their appearance.
Starbucks' customers can't bee-lieve the new cake pop design
Among other new additions, Starbucks' summer menu features brand-new Bumblebee Cake Pops, as reported by Today. Although the ingredients sound tempting — these pops are a combination of buttercream-infused cake and chocolate-tinged yellow icing — it's the design that's really throwing people for a loop. First of all, this cake pop appears to have ears, which is not a feature one usually associates with bumblebees. As for the face, two eyes sit above three black lines, with a curved top line and two straight bottom lines.
The design is decidedly cat-like, particularly in the ears. When combined with the coloring of the cake pop, one customer claimed that it bears a greater resemblance to a "terrified tiger" than a bumblebee. Other commenters compared it to the polite cat meme, Tina Belcher (a character in the cartoon "Bob's Burgers"), and even Pikachu. The confusion is most likely stemming from a commonly used cake pop mold, which means that many seasonal pops have a similar shape. For instance, the chain's previous Unicorn Cake Pop shared a similar design. As for now, Starbucks is standing by its claim that the new cake pops are indeed bumblebees, but that likely won't stop the internet from buzzing.