Starbucks' Red Cup Day Returns At Last With A New Look
Updated 11/14/24; an earlier version of this article stated Starbucks' Red Cup Day is 25 years old. The chain's holiday cup designs go back 25 years, but Red Cup Day is seven years old.
Starbucks has been running its special Red Cup Day for seven years now, the annual one-day-only giveaway of reusable 16-ounce cups with special holiday designs on a deep red background. Previous holiday cup designs have ranged from the intricate, such as 2021's multicolored ribbons-and-stars pattern, to the simple, such as 2018's vintage-inspired graphics.
After plenty of waiting, Starbucks has finally announced this year's Red Cup Day offering, joining the rest of Starbucks' 2024 holiday items. The design features the classic red background Starbucks fans known and love with a collection of artfully arranged round peppermint candies.
If you want one of this year's cups, get yourself to a Starbucks this Thursday, November 14, or take advantage of the Starbucks app's new DoorDash delivery feature that launched only two days ago. Better act fast though, since it's first-come, first-serve, and limited in supply.
You need to order specific drinks to get the cup
Besides the limited supply, the only real restriction for Red Cup Day is that you have to order one of Starbucks' 20 "handcrafted holiday beverages" to get one. This includes various drinks using festive flavors like apple, cranberry, pumpkin, peppermint, and more.
Once you've got your hands on one of the red cups, you can start bringing it back to Starbucks throughout the year, for a 10 cent discount on any drink you order. This discount also applies to any other reusable cup you bring in as part of Starbucks' effort to reduce its waste in half by 2030. As part of this goal, this year's red cup is also made from 95% recycled materials — 2022 and 2023's eco-friendly holiday Red Cup Days saw cups made of 50% and 75% recycled materials, respectively. Plus, on top of the discount, red cup-bearers who are Starbucks Rewards members can get 25 extra stars on future orders.