Starbucks rolled out its new menu items for the summer season this week, and it includes a Chocolate Java Mint Frappucino and a White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew that had fans of the chain foaming at the mouth.
Another addition to the summer menu is a new variation of Starbucks’ beloved cake pops — a “Bumblebee” cake pop made with vanilla cake and yellow buttercream frosting meant to be a cute representation of the buzzy insects.
There’s only one problem: The cake pop looks absolutely nothing like a bumblebee.
Representing something that looks more like an uncomfortable cat, the cake pop appears to have pointy ears, like a feline, and big, wide eyes that seem to scream, “Help me!”.
Of course, this led social media users to have a field day, trying to figure out exactly what the cake pop looks like, calling it “ugly” and “goofy.”
i still can’t believe they’re calling this a bumblebee cake pop it looks like a disabled cat making the derp face pic.twitter.com/2vk3zTbhJi
— el (@CHEFDOGMEAT) May 10, 2023
the new bumblebee cake pop is legitimately one of the goofiest things i’ve ever seen
— kat ×͜× (@science_edibls) May 11, 2023
whoever designed starbucks new bumblebee cake pop we need to have words
— stomper (@faraphobic) May 9, 2023
why does this “bumblebee” cake pop have cat ears pic.twitter.com/nubwYwXxSE
— ellipsi. (@ellipsi_music) May 10, 2023
I could have had 10,000 guesses to identify this cake pop and I would never have gotten “Bumblebee” pic.twitter.com/ReIZORliZe
— Arne Parrott (@ArneParrott) May 10, 2023
Over on Reddit, users claiming to be Starbucks baristas and shift supervisors are saying the peculiar shape is a result of the company reusing old molds from other seasonal cake pops of the past (like the Owl and Reindeer) and having to improvise to make the shape work.
“Literally the fact that corporate doesn’t feel embarrassed to promote that and it being from the same stupid mold they keep using,” one alleged barista wrote on the website.
Starbucks was under fire from customers earlier this week after the chain announced that it would start charging an extra $1 for asking for “no water” in any of its Refresher drinks.
The chain is coming off of a strong Q2 2023, reporting an estimated $908.3 million in revenue.
Starbucks was up over 50.67% in a one-year period as of Thursday afternoon.
