Starbucks holiday cups have undergone some major evolutions over the years - here's how they've changed

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Starbucks' 2015 holiday cups.

• A Starbucks worker leaked a photo of what appears to be the chain's 2017 holiday cup.
• The new cup diverges from the "red cup" trend of years past.
• Starbucks' holiday cups have been a point of controversy in recent years.

Starbucks' rumored new holiday cup has one drastic difference from those of years past.

Earlier in October, an apparent Starbucks worker with the Reddit handle DarthSpoopy posted a (now-deleted) photo of what appears to be the company's "short" holiday cups on the r/Starbucks subreddit.

Since Starbucks launched holiday cups in 1997, its red cups have become a holiday mainstay - and a source of controversy. In 2015, the coffee giant faced backlash when it debuted minimalist red cups that some complained weren't "Christmas-y" enough.

Here's a look at Starbucks' cups from 2009 to 2017:

BI Graphics - Samantha Lee