Starbucks has been caught Red handed, and seems to be something Taylor Swift related.
With the re-release of T-Swift’s 2012 third studio album Red (Taylor’s Version) just days away, Starbucks has got Taylor's fans scrambling to decode hidden social media messages, and as always, the fandom is relentless.
The coffee franchise began by tugging at “Swiftie” heartstrings with a tweet on Monday, November 8 — declaring, "It’s Red Season," with some added wintery emojis.
Well, it’s no secret Swift is known for hiding Easter eggs and leaving clues in pretty much every music video, social post and promo, so you think we'd be used to it. That said, Swifties and Starbucks drinkers alike seem to be losing patience… like we said — relentless.
“TELL US WHAT U KNOW,” demanded one fan, responding to Starbucks’ tweet. Leaning into the rumors and hype Starbucks replied to another tweet saying, “We know all too well how exciting this time of year is, and we’ll forever & always love it: Our red holiday cups and drinks are back.” Which we’re guessing since you’re here, we don’t actually have to explain.
And Starbs didn’t stop there. In response to an outraged fan that wrote, “BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN,” Starbucks teased an already-exhausted fan base further: “We’re just in a holiday vibe right now, not a lot going on at the moment otherwise,” they wrote, referencing Swift’s now infamous post from right before she surprise-dropped her album Folklore.
While some fans are asking for answers, others are theorizing, particularly that a Swift themed drink will debut on the Starbucks menu the same day as the album’s re-release. Even linking a recent Swift Instagram post as a hint to the possible collaboration.
In a video, dedicated to her fellow "basic autumn lovers", Swift recreates one of her old Tumblr post about loving all things Fall. And since Swifties don’t come to play, many point out that during the video the singer grabs a Starbucks cup to drink out of. In fact, her drinking out of the Starbs cup is the posts thumbnail.
Then on TikTok one user shared the deuxmoi posting, as well as an alleged and unvalidated release sent to Starbucks employees detailing the Starbucks-Swift collaboration that will apparently include Swift’s music being played in stores, custom labels for drinks and, of course, a “Taylor’s Drink” on the menu. Obviously the comments section popped off, with fans complaining that the drink should have instead been a maple latte.
Additionally, the Twitter account @TaylorSwiftSociety posted an array of anonymous DMs from Starbucks workers that confirmed the alleged release.
However, with nothing OFFICIALLY confirmed, guess we’ll just have to wait and see. But just saying it would be so “casually cruel” for Starbucks and Tay to not come through with this collab.
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