2023 McCafé Holiday Cups

Holiday cups are a big deal. For some, they act as an important reminder to finish up—or even start—holiday gift shopping. For others, they act as the perfect excuse to grab a warm beverage with a loved one. Holiday cups mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, which is why it’s so important to get the design right.

For McCafé, holiday cups allow for a seasonal twist on the brand promise to create moments of real coffee satisfaction made simple. That’s why we wanted to celebrate the end of 2023 with a design that is bold like McCafé drinks, simple like the menu and colorful like everyone that visits McDonald’s every day. The designs are celebratory, vivid, and modern, staying true to our design language for all McCafé packaging we create.

We built off the success of last year’s cups, which used McCafé’s iconic gold mixed with different mid-century elements of blue, green, white and red. We added to the mix pink, the color of kindness, love, and calmness: three things everyone can use during the holiday season. With the brown McCafé logo front and center amongst a mix of abstract and geometric shapes, our special packaging connected with customers and offered warm wishes.

The design wasn’t limited to hot cups, as the clear cups, which serve cold and blended McCafé beverages, joined the festive fun. Plus, the design was used to create limited edition wrapping paper and socks for employees at McDonald’s Corporate Headquarters in Chicago.

While millions of people interacted with our packaging, a single tweet from one excited customer sums up exactly what we were going for: “I’m calling this a ‘happy cup’ because it made me smile! Festive enough to use from Thanksgiving into the new year without needing to change cups for each holiday season. Very creative and clear McDonald’s! It’s happy coffee drinks from McCafé!”