A Starbucks barista revealed her thoughts on the coffee chain’s new drink stickers in a now-viral video. Spoiler alert: she wasn’t thrilled about them.
The five-second video was uploaded by TikTok user Mads (@lolitsjustmads). In it, she recorded a hot Starbucks drink and zoomed in on the label. It was not the same one Starbucks customers have come to know and love.
The previous label was printed in a sans serif font and began with an indication of the number of items in a customer’s order followed by the drink name in larger text. After the drink name, the label listed any modifications the customer made, followed by the pickup method.
The new label in Mads’ video featured the customer’s name at the top in a serif font and large lettering. Following the customer’s name was the drink name in the same font and smaller lettering. The next section—which included the drink modifications, number of items in the order, and pickup method—was printed in sans-serif and smaller lettering. A horizontal line at the top and bottom marked off the section.
A sound bite of a person screaming played as Mads zoomed on the label. “Average starbucks barista reacting to the new drink/food stickers,” she wrote in an on-screen caption. She further emphasized her distaste in the video’s caption, noting, “theyre so ugly and for what.”
@lolitsjustmads theyre so ugly and for what
♬ women screaming – jo
The video garnered over 24,000 views, and viewers unanimously agreed with the TikToker’s thoughts on the change.
“Wtf is that ugly a$$ thing,” one viewer asked.
“NO WAY,” a second wrote.
“I haven’t seen these yet so thank u for this warning,” a third remarked.
Luckily for those displeased by the new labels, the change may not last: Some Starbucks baristas revealed that it was only temporary at their locations.
“Ours went back to the normal format today????” one user stated.
“THEYRE SO UGLY but they changed back to the old ones like halfway thru my shift today????” a second echoed.
Furthermore, the new font sparked discussion in a Subreddit for Starbucks baristas. Redditor u/AdhesivenessEnough95 posted a photo of a coffee with the new label, asking, “Came in today to the stickers printing like this. Is there a way to switch it back or is this just some new update?” Another Redditor explained that this new label was supposedly designed to “[rearrange] modifications” to be in the correct order.
This is not the first time Starbucks customers have had to deal with the lettering on their cups changing. Back in 2012, baristas wrote out customers’ names and order specifications by hand “to form a connection between baristas and customers.” This practice was removed in 2016 to allow stores to “more reliably track inventory and standardize pricing.” Starbucks currently uses three different fonts for its branding: Sodo Sans, Lander, and Pike.
The Daily Dot reached out to Starbucks via press email and Mads via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment.
