In light of the Starbucks holiday cup “controversy,” I created two festive cup designs for Starbucks to use next year.

The first one features Odin riding Sleipnir. What could be more Christmasy than the original inspiration for Santa Claus himself? Long before Christians forced Germanic Pagans to convert to their religion, the Germans had their own yule traditions. Odin would lead the Wild Hunt atop Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, bringing toys to all the good children who left straw and carrots in their boots for Sleipnir. At some point, as Christianity took hold in Europe, Odin became Santa Claus, and Sleipnir became eight reindeer who liked to bully poor Rudolph for being different. It’s the Christian reindeer way.

Next we have a coffee cup featuring Krampus. Krampus is a popular holiday character in Germany and Austria. While Saint Nicholas is distributing gifts to the good children, Krampus is tasked with dealing with the naughty children. Krampus puts all the bad kids in his bag and takes them away. Depending on the particular tradition, he may drown them, eat them, or transport them to hell. I bet children who’ve heard of Krampus are much more well-behaved than those who have only a coal-filled stocking to fear!

I think that my new Starbucks cup designs are just as Christmassy and Christian as the snowflakes that the people complaining about the plain red cups were hoping for!