Starbucks Introduces Special Spring-Themed Cups (PHOTOS)

For the first time ever, Starbucks is introducing spring-themed cups for hot beverages that will come in three pastel colors. The new cups debut March 16, just four days before the official first day of spring.

The color of the cups will be dependent on size; a tall comes in green, blue for grande cups and yellow for venti cups. According to Starbucks, cups also include hand-drawn designs of appropriately spring-themed objects like umbrellas and the sun. A Starbucks spokeswoman said the cups are a mix of doodles and blanks, a way for the company to let customers personalize the cups by creating doodles of their own.

Like most seasonal Starbucks cups, the festive cups will be available for a limited time only.

"Starbucks first began offering seasonal cups more than 20 years ago with its first holiday cup and has since introduced cups celebrating autumn and summer," the company said in a news release.

One thought that comes to mind is whether there will be backlash against the cups. Customers might recall the Starbucks Christmas cups controversy of 2015 that featured plain red cups with the Starbucks logo on them. Customers were upset that the cups were so understated and did not feature any symbols related to the holiday, with some accusing the company of political correctness. Needless to say, the 2016 Christmas cups featured drawings of all kinds of elements related to Christmas.

A news editor at the food website Eater has attempted to preempt some of the outrage. She lists a slew of reasons why the new spring cups should not be taken to be Easter-themed cups, one of them being that the Christian holiday does not arrive until a whole month after the cups debut.

Patch has reached out to Starbucks for more information and will update this post as we hear back.

All images courtesy Starbucks Newsroom