Starbucks plucks two Canadian designs for seasonal red cups

Starbucks selected two Canadian designs among 11 others to be featured on its seasonal red cups.

Next time you order a triple grande peppermint white mocha, you may just be holding some original Canadian art.

Two Canadians are among 13 artists whose festive, hand-drawn designs were chosen to appear on Starbucks’ seasonal red cups.

The coffee company put out a call for customers to decorate cups with images of “acceptance and coming together to rejoice in the holidays, even though we celebrate different things.” The winning designs were chosen from more than 1,200 submissions, which were uploaded to Instagram with the hashtag #RedCupArt.

Among the Canadian winners are Erica Donner, a paralegal from Markham, Ont., and Anna Bucciarelli, a Torontonian who decorated her holiday cup with images of Santa Claus and reindeer.

Donner said she adorned her cup with playful swirls while helping her sister recover from knee surgery.

“My sister was stuck on the couch for a month, so we spent a lot of time colouring together,” said Donner, who celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.

Anna decorated her cup in the style of petrykivka, a traditional Ukrainian art form that focuses on fine details and flourishes. Holly, reindeer, Christmas trees and cottages appear on her intricate design.

Starbucks recently drew a bit of online controversy after it introduced a limited edition green cup in its U.S. stores. The cups featured a mosaic of people drawn with one, continuous pen stroke, but the design rankled some customers who accused the company of weighing in on the so-called “war on Christmas.”

The company said rolling out the design was a timely decision.

“During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other,” said the company’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, in a statement.