【全文翻译】
War on Christmas? Starbucks Cups Cause Social Media Outcry
圣诞节之战?星巴克咖啡杯引发社交媒体争议
A barista reaches for a red paper cup as more, with cardboard liners already attached, line the top of an espresso machine at a Starbucks coffee shop in the Pike Place Market in Seattle, Nov. 10, 2015.
2015年11月10日,在西雅图Pike Place大卖场中的星巴克咖啡店中,一个服务生正在伸手拿已经被加好隔热纸板,整齐的排列在咖啡机上的红色纸杯。
NEW YORK—
纽约
It's as red as Santa's suit, a poinsettia or your neighbor's ugly Christmas sweater.
纸杯颜色就像圣诞老人的衣服一样红,是猩红色或是你邻居丑陋的圣诞毛衣色。
Yet Starbucks' stark new holiday coffee cup has set off complaints that the chain is making war on Christmas.
然而,星巴克全新的假日咖啡杯引发了一系列抱怨圣诞节的“战役”。
The outcry - which gained in intensity after Donald Trump suggested boycotting the coffee chain - illustrates the fine line companies must walk during the all-important holiday season:
这次抗议,在 Donald Trump建议抵制咖啡系列之后愈演愈烈,这要求公司们在这个重要的节假季中必须把握好尺度。
They want to stand out from their competitors, but not go so far as to offend or unsettle.
他们既希望能够从竞争者中脱颖而出,但又不能走到不能控制的地步。
"The challenge is that the holiday language is same for everything,'' said Allen Adamson, founder of BrandSimple Consulting.
BrandSimple咨询公司的创始人Allen Adamson说:“挑战在于假期对于所有事来说都一样。”
"Everyone does it, so how do you do it in a way that's distinctive? If you push too far with distinctiveness, you might end up ruffling feathers.''
“所有人都在做这件事,那么你如何做才能让它与众不同?但假如你过分关注其特殊性,万一犯了忌讳冒犯到人你就等着关门大吉吧。”
Since 1997, Starbucks has offered holiday drinks in a festive red cup, adorned with such things as Christmas ornaments, reindeer and snowflakes.
自1997年以来星巴克就把节日饮品装在以圣诞彩带、驯鹿或者雪花装饰的用来庆祝的红杯子中。
This year's design is minimalist: vivid red, with nothing but the familiar green Starbucks logo.
但是今年的设计极为抽象:鲜艳的红色上除了我们熟悉的绿色星巴克商标外什么都没有。
Starbucks executives said they wanted to embrace "simplicity and quietness'' and show that the coffee shops are a "sanctuary'' during the holidays.
星巴克官方表示他们想要强调“简约和朴素”并且表明在假期中咖啡店就像是“一个安静的角落”
The company also reminded customers that it is selling its Christmas Blend of coffee as usual this year.
公司同时提醒广大顾客朋友们他们像往年一样销售圣诞综合咖啡。
But some religious conservatives saw the new cup as an affront to tradition and yet another example of what some have called the "war on Christmas”- the taking of religion out of the Yuletide season by doing such things as greeting customers with "Happy Holidays'' instead of "Merry Christmas.''
但是一些宗教保守人士认为新杯的样式是对传统的侮辱,而某些人称为”圣诞节之战“的则是另一个例子—公司用“假期快乐”而不是“圣诞快乐”向顾客打招呼意味着将圣诞节从宗教中摘除。
On Twitter, where the topic became a sensation, some people were upset over the cup, while others said they didn't understand what the big deal was.
这个话题迅速成为了Twitter的热点,一些人表示他们为杯子感到悲哀,而另一些人表示他们根本不理解这有什么大不了的。
Trump weighed in on Monday by saying, "Maybe we should boycott Starbucks.''
trump在周一所说的“或许我们应该抵制星巴克”使得事件进一步发酵。
He added: "If I become president, we're all going to be saying, 'Merry Christmas' again. That I can tell you.''
他补充说:“我将告诉你们,如果我当选为总统,我们将重新说“圣诞快乐””
And a group called Faith Driven Consumer urged people to go to Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme instead.
并且一个叫做Faith Driven Consumer的组织号召人们用去Dunkin' Donuts或者Krispy Kreme作为(不去星巴克的)替代。
At a Starbucks in downtown Los Angeles that was decked out with decorations touting the Christmas Blend, customer Ray Velasco said he doesn't give much thought to how companies market during the holidays, especially when it's barely November.
在洛杉矶市中心的星巴克已经装饰好了同时推出圣诞综合咖啡来招徕顾客,消费者Ray Velasco表示他对市场企业在假期中的表现并不感兴趣,何况这仅仅是十一月。
"There's so much stuff going on in the world, I just can't pay attention to every controversy,'' he said.
他说:“世界上发生的事情那么多,我不可能关注每一个争论。”
Lara Reynolds sipped the Christmas Blend and dismissed the social-media furor with a wave: "It's ridiculous. I've been trying to ignore it.''
Lara Reynolds抿了一口圣诞综合咖啡,挥了挥手借此希望打消社交媒体的热情:“这太荒谬了,我准备无视它。”
Kit Yarrow, a professor of psychology and marketing at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, said some people seized on the cup for the same reason many Americans have been captivated by Trump's "anti-PC'' stance.
Kit Yarrow,一位旧金山金门大学的市场与心理学教授,表示人们抓住杯子事件不放的理由是因为许多美国人被Trump反对PC的姿态所迷惑。
"A lot of people are really just constantly on the lookout for some vehicle to express anger and dissatisfaction, and this is the vehicle du jour,'' she said.
她说:“许多人只是不断的寻找一些媒介作为发泄愤怒与不满的对象,星巴克这次不幸中枪了。”
【短语学习】
cause outcry
set off complaints
stand out from competitors
adorn with
see sth as an affront to tradition
be upset over sth
be decked out with decorations
express anger and dissatisfaction