The Worst Starbucks Merch Of All Time, According To Customers

Everyone loves a good piece of Starbucks merch. Maybe you're obsessed with the brand's glittery reusable cold cups, or you love collecting unique Starbucks mugs from across the world. Regardless of whether you have a few Starbucks cups in your pantry or just appreciate a good merch display whenever you visit your local store, you're probably at least somewhat familiar with some of Starbucks' best-sellers.

However, not every piece of Starbucks merch is a hit. There are several times they've totally missed the mark. We're not the final judges on which Starbucks brand items flopped, either. Starbucks customers have a lot to say about the merch that they love and hate. We took a look at all the Starbucks merchandise customers thought was the worst — and exactly why no one wanted to buy it. If you've got any of these Starbucks pieces in your cupboard, well, hey, don't shoot the messenger. We're not judging.

A reusable cutlery set is a must for many people — and we're not just talking about silverware, either. Durable plastic cutlery is great for taking with you on the go, whether you're packing lunch to take to work or need utensils that will hold up while you're out camping. That's probably what Starbucks was thinking when it released its plastic cutlery set. Unfortunately, it totally missed the mark.

Customers bashed the set for looking plain, cheap, and like it wouldn't last very long. It's true that the glossy plastic pieces don't exactly look like they're built for maximum durability. A fun, peppy cutlery design that's unique from other travel cutlery sets on the market probably would have been a bestseller, but the design and quality just wasn't it for this admittedly drab set. If you're thinking that this cutlery set isn't all that bad, you should know that Starbucks settled on selling it for $17, which sealed the deal for this merch's admission into the horrified customer hall of fame.

Starbucks' souvenir mug series has had many different names and designs. Essentially, every mug in a different state, region, or major city receives a unique design with lots of fun little doodles that represent the area. You'll find a different mug for every U.S. state, for example, while Japan's Discovery series features a huge variety of major cities. Travelers all over the world love collecting these cups as fun reminders of all the places they've been.

Every once in a while, though, Starbucks decides to change out the designs for each of its souvenir mugs. Once this happens, the old mugs are slowly phased out, and the souvenir series gets a new title. The first souvenir mug collection was the City Mug Collector Series in 1994, and other popular designs included the Global Series and the Been There Series mug collections.

Unfortunately, the latest rendition of the souvenir travel mugs, from 2024, leaves a lot to be desired, according to customers. Some of the travel destinations scraped by with an acceptable design, but most customers weren't happy with the fact that the mugs changed from thoughtful, hand-drawn styles to much more simplistic designs. "It looks like AI, no human creativity," one commenter mourned on a Reddit thread discussing the redesign.

Starbucks has taken the Internet by storm before with its reusable color-changing cups. However, one rendition of the popular color-changing merchandise was deemed unusable by customers because of its design. The design was attempting a cute tie-dye vibe that would look bold and colorful even before the cup's color started to change. However, the colors that were chosen clashed horribly — from the splotchy straw to the color-blocked cup itself, which some customers said looked moldy.

The design for this particular cup was so bad that it received last place on our ranking of 28 Starbucks cup designs. It's unfortunately all too easy to see why. Thankfully, Starbucks never brought back this particular lineup of color-changing merchandise. We're much more excited for future color-changing cold cups that, uh, don't look like this one.

Some customers like the design of the color-changing confetti cups, and at least you can see what Starbucks was originally going for. These cups are frosted, just like regular Starbucks reusable cups. But there's a twist — there are small dots designed to look like confetti all over the cup that change color when you add your drink. Adorable, right?

Well, some people thought so. But others thought that it just looked like dirt. The flecks of color were fairly small, and in an effort to create a confetti design, they were scattered at random all over the cup. Because they lacked any kind of shine or sparkle to them, they looked very unintentional (unless you sat and watched them change color, perhaps). Some commenters compared the confetti dots to flecks of paint. 

One piece of Starbucks merch that seriously confused customers was the straw cleaning set that hit shelves during the Starbucks holiday merch drop in 2024. The goal was to create a cute, holiday-inspired straw cleaning set to help customers keep their straws organized (especially after so many adorable holiday cold cups with matching straws were released). Starbucks sort of had the right idea here — after all, the brand's straw toppers were a constant sell-out — but the spiky red tube did not instantly make customers think of a straw holder, to put it mildly.

It's clear that the idea behind the straw holder has a lot of merit. After all, traveling around with extra straws is a lot easier with the straw holder, and it even came with two holiday-themed straws and an adorable little straw cleaning brush, too. The fail for this design mostly came from its slightly suggestive-looking exterior, and the fact that many customers felt that the texture was strange and uncomfortable to hold. It might look good on Starbucks' signature spiky cups, but the straw holder had way too much going on for it to win customers over during the holiday season.

We all know about the love (and desperation) people have for Stanley tumblers — new drops, especially limited-edition collaborations, sell out within seconds and resell for hundreds of dollars online. Most people probably expected the same thing to happen with the Starbucks x Stanley collaboration in 2024. The two brand giants have enormous collector customers bases, after all. Unfortunately, it was actually the color scheme of this cup that killed it before it could truly take off on social media.

The design itself was already a tad unusual as far as Stanley cups go, with a visibly rubbery handle and neon stripe across the top lid — not to mention the clear plastic straw. But the thing that bothered people the most was the fact that the cup itself was an awkward shade of yellow with a neon purple handle. 

"Once someone said the colors reminded them of Planet Fitness, I couldn't look at them the same anymore," one commenter wrote on Reddit. Ultimately, it was the similarity to the gym chain's color scheme that led to the unfortunate downfall of the Starbucks x Stanley tumblers. While some baristas said their stores sold out of these cups fairly quickly, others chimed in to say that their stores had plenty of cups still left in stock, and that these particular Stanley tumblers weren't popular compared to the other Starbucks x Stanley collaborations.

Some people love these spiky Starbucks cold cups, some people hate them. The texture definitely scratches an itch in our brains, but it's also easy to see how these cups could be uncomfortable for some to hold. The colors can also be hit or miss according to many customers. You're bound to see a spiky-textured cold cup or two in pretty much any seasonal release Starbucks puts out, but the admiration for the colors can vary significantly.

There's no hate from us if you're a fan of these cups, but there's also no denying that they're not a favorite amongst all customers. To some, they look cheap and gaudy. Customers also say that Starbucks has reused the design too many times, and it's starting to feel overdone. The texture can be a pain to clean, too, although fortunately the inside is easy to wash. On the other hand, some Starbucks customers who have trouble holding ordinary Starbucks tumblers due to conditions such as arthritis say that these tumblers are a lifesaver because the texture makes them so easy to grip. So, we have to admit that's a huge win!

Don't come for us when we say this! First of all, Red Cup Day is an undeniably fun 'holiday' that Starbucks customers celebrate every year. On this day (which always falls during winter), you can get a free reusable plastic red cup when you order a holiday drink off the Starbucks menu. The designs change each year, and many people love collecting new designs every time Red Cup Day rolls around.

However, there has been a large push in recent years for mindful consumption when it comes to Red Cup Day. This is why some customers have sworn off red cups from Starbucks, and why others say that — even though they still love the cups themselves — it's better to be conscious about why you want them when you buy them. For many customers, these red cups end up collecting dust in their cupboards. Even worse, some customers throw them away soon after getting them. That's a lot of plastic going directly into the trash for coffee drinkers across the world.

If you're joining in the hunt for a free red cup the next time Red Cup Day rolls around, just make sure you're getting it because you actually plan on enjoying and using it (ideally year-round). As long as you love it, that's reason enough.