Usually when coffee giant Starbucks introduces new beverages before the holiday season, customers get excited and respond positively. However, the same cannot be said this year.

Starbucks enthusiasts are dismayed when they saw that this year's red cups did not feature any Christmas designs such as snowflakes, Christmas trees, and ornaments. This year, the cups were just plain red, according to Breitbart News.

When writer Raheem Kassam e-mailed Starbucks asking why they decided to stop being "Chrismassy" by providing a plain red cup and calling them "holiday beverages" instead of "Christmas beverages," he was sent a "factsheet" with their latest offerings and a link to their website, where they talked about plans "to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories."

Starbucks' vice president of design Jeffrey Fields explained that they went the plain route to embrace "the simplicity and quietness" of the holiday season. "It's (a) more open way to usher in the holiday," he explained. "This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories."

But Kassam is not buying it, and he suspects that Starbucks is waging war against Christmas. "The Red Cups are now an anti-Christmas symbol," he said.

"You can see what's going on here. More open? You mean, you're trying not to 'offend' anyone," he said. "Frankly, the only thing that can redeem them from this whitewashing of Christmas is to print Bible verses on their cups next year."

He is not the only one who got upset over the cups' minimalistic new design. Twitter user Chuck Nellis writes, "My Christmas mentality: If a store won't promote Christmas re Starbucks, I'm not spending my hard earned money there."

"This is a denial of historical reality and the great Christian heritage behind the American Dream that has so benefitted Starbucks," says Andrea Williams of the U.K.-based organisation Christian Concern.

However, when on-again off-again Arizona pastor Joshua Feuerstein complained on his Facebook page that "Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus," and that their employees are prohibited from greeting customers "Merry Christmas," he was criticised.

"If you're Christian & upset over Starbucks cups, your priorities are out of whack and you don't have enough to do," tweets Brian Green Young.