Starbucks Is Weirdly Telling Its Baristas Not To Draw This On Your Cup

Ever since former-Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol assumed his executive leadership role at Starbucks back in September 2024, the company has seen a slew of new policy changes, all aimed at bettering the company's brick-and-mortar atmosphere. For starters, self-service creamer stations, a classic café feature, are back. In addition, there's a dress code, featuring black shirts and khaki pants, which some Starbucks employees aren't happy with. Perhaps the most talked about new policy, though, involves requiring Starbucks baristas to write positive messages or draw doodles on every to-go cup. This gives employees the opportunity to flex their artistic creativity, but oddly, the company has begun telling baristas not to draw animals on customer orders.

That's right, no longer will you see Sharpie depictions of cats, dogs, or horses. In a message to its thousands of employees, Starbucks' corporate leadership stated that animals are no longer permitted as doodles, instead encouraging them to write short and simple positive notes. While we aren't sure if baristas will face any sort of retribution for drawing animals, this change hasn't gone over well with some employees. One Reddit user, TheModernVampire, expressed disappointment at the new changes, writing, "The smily faces do not feel personal enough, but writing something out and making sure it is ledgible [sic] is too time consuming. I had mastered a quick doodle of my favorite animal, and I was one of the best about making sure there was something done for nearly every drink I put out."

Starbucks hasn't officially stated why it no longer considers animals doodle-worthy on to-go cups, but that hasn't stopped several of the chain baristas and customers alike from some good, old-fashioned speculation online. Some believe that the change could be a preventative action, so customers aren't embarrassed or uncomfortable with the drawings. One Redditor, bokumarist, commented with a personal experience, writing, "I had a woman who hates cats and was actually offended about a kitty drawing." Another Redditor, Bbkingml13, wrote, "I wonder if you have male customers not enjoying going into a business meeting with kitties drawn on their coffee." Others have speculated that the company simply wants baristas to spend less time doodling on cups, and more time crafting beverages.

Interestingly, animals aren't the only thing the company wants off of its iconic cups. According to that same employee memo, baristas cannot use slang words or make any pop culture references when doodling on to-go cups. As with animals, we aren't sure why the company has made this policy change. However, given that slang and pop culture references aren't universally recognized, it could potentially be to prevent customers from being confused or offended by an employee's message. Starbucks itself is no stranger to making pop culture references in its menu, such as its "Wicked"-inspired drinks back in October 2024. Only time will tell, but it's possible that with a future pop culture collab, branded messages would be allowed on cups.