People aren't happy with the new Starbucks holiday cups

Sir David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West, expressed his despair at the coffee chain's decision to remove all references to Christmas - even secular images such as snowmen and snowflakes - from their annual red cups this year.

Yes that's right, the marketing folk at Starbuck's sat at their evil anti-Christmas chairs and frothed at the mouth while they clicked on their InDesign screens and flooded the cups with the blood of Satan.

The festive red cups sweep social media every year, but this year, they're taking over for a different reason.

Starbucks has offered special holiday cups since 1997 with designs varying from year to year.

The company explains that since the first red cup was introduced almost two decades ago, Starbucks has grown exponentially with more than 22,000 stores worldwide.

Starbucks says it's "embracing the simplicity and the quietness" of the season with the new design.

And it's important to note that not all Christian groups agree with the "movement". Paul Batura, vice president of communications at Focus on the Family, said the old designs were never symbols of Christmas. "Instead, it's found in the hearts and minds of those of us who believe that God sent His only son to earth in the form of an innocent, helpless baby".

Ken Nisch, chairman of a branding and retail design company called JGA, said this year's Starbucks cup was actually designed in an attempt not to offend or alienate anyone.

Simon Calvert of the Christian Institute also laid into the coffee barons, saying: What is it about Christmas that Starbucks are afraid of celebrating?

It's hard to tell whether the cup's simplicity will translate into more sales, Nisch said. "I don't think that the more you have on a cup necessarily helps sales, but most people are buying coffee, not the cup".

In a video post that has quickly gone viral, evangelist claims that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their holiday cups, and that Starbucks employees can't say "Merry Christmas" to customers, due to political correctness run amok. As for the critics, religious and otherwise, she says: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion".