Starbucks has rehired Anomaly and artist Geoff McFetridge for a second straight holiday campaign.
The 2026 spot, "Perfect Harmony," is a 30-second animation that McFetridge drew by hand on Starbucks cups using a Sharpie.
Rehiring the same team gives the brand a holiday look that customers can now recognize two years running.
In a separate effort, Starbucks released "Holiday Blend," a seven-track album through Interscope Records and Universal Music Group.
The projects give Starbucks two ways to reach customers during the holiday season.
And for Anomaly, the holiday film adds to its Starbucks relationship.
The agency has handled the brand's U.S. creative account since January 2025, after WPP held the business for about three months.
Anomaly's first Starbucks spot, "Not My Name," also focused on the handwritten names and notes baristas put on cups, a ritual unique to the chain.
After two agency changes in three months, Starbucks steadied its brand positioning by keeping its creative work anchored to one in-store ritual.
Two Music Labels Back the Holiday Album
"Holiday Blend" features Magnus Ferrell, Coco Jones, JYT, TRÍADA, Brandi Carlile, The Womack Sisters, and Leon Thomas.
The seven tracks include reinterpretations of holiday classics and an original song by JYT.
Starbucks SVP of Global Marketing and Channel Development Erin Silvoy said the album extends the company's history of music in its coffeehouses.
"'Holiday Blend' brings together incredible artists to put their own spin on songs we all know and love," she shared in a press relese.
"My hope is that it becomes part of the soundtrack to the season, creating a little more joy and connection whether you’re in a Starbucks coffeehouse or wherever the holidays take you."
The album includes a $500,000 donation to World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit partner of The Starbucks Foundation since 2019.
"Holiday Blend" is Starbucks' first holiday compilation since 2012's "Holidays Rule," which featured Paul McCartney and The Shins.
Starbucks commissioned new recordings from each artist for the 2026 release.
Available globally on streaming platforms, the holiday album puts the brand in front of the artists' audiences outside its stores.
Interscope and UMG covered the casting and distribution work that Starbucks would otherwise split between a talent agency and a media buying team.
A Tiny Band Takes Over Holiday Cups
"Perfect Harmony" follows miniature musicians drawn onto Starbucks holiday cups as they reunite at a seasonal gathering.
Set to The Turtles' "Happy Together," the spot features holiday beverages, seasonal cups, and scenes from the coffeehouse.
Last year's "Drawn Together" used The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" as the soundtrack, another song about sticking together.
McFetridge's Sharpie drawings match this idea, with the same loose line that a barista uses to write a name on a cup.
The artist, known for his work on the films "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Her," also drew the campaign's out-of-home advertising.
Prada went hand-drawn for its 2026 holiday campaign too, part of a wider return to human craft as AI-made ads spread.
Swapping the song each year while keeping the same illustrator is a low-risk way for Starbucks to refresh a holiday campaign and protect its brand identity.
Starbucks also lined up three merchandise drops that send collectors back to its coffeehouses through December.
A very limited, hand-blown Glass Christmas Tree Cold Cup hit select U.S. and Canadian coffeehouses on Nov. 5 for $32.95.
Glass Bearista Cold Cup Surprise Boxes follow on Nov. 10, each hiding a mystery bear design and capped at two per customer.
The original Bearista cup, which sold out in less than a day in 2025, returns to select coffeehouses on Dec. 1.
Spreading limited drops across four weeks gives a single product launch several chances to send collectors into stores.
Good In-Store Music Pulls Shoppers Back
Starbucks will also play "Holiday Blend" in select coffeehouses this season.
A 2026 study published in the European Journal of Marketing examined 948 customers at Abercrombie & Fitch and Apple stores.
Researchers found that positive perceptions of in-store music can improve customers' intentions to revisit.
The same perceptions raised customers' willingness to recommend the store, working through how they rated the atmosphere and their satisfaction.
A branded album playing at the counter extends the campaign into experiential marketing that customers meet on every visit.
Brands lining up agencies and labels for holiday marketing can take three lessons from Starbucks.
Rehire the Team That Owns the Format
Brands should keep an agency and artist pairing once customers recognize the work, so each year adds to the same idea.
Starbucks used Anomaly and McFetridge for the 60-second "Drawn Together" film in 2025 and rehired both for "Perfect Harmony" in 2026.
Give Each Partner a Distinct Job
Brands should assign creative partners responsibilities that match their expertise.
Starbucks gives Anomaly the advertising brief and Interscope and Universal Music Group the album distribution.
Put Campaign Assets Inside the Store
Brands should develop creative assets that have a reason to exist outside paid placements.
Starbucks is streaming its album globally and playing it in select coffeehouses, where a 2026 study tied positive music perceptions to higher revisit intentions.
Starbucks now runs its holiday campaign as a repeatable format, with Anomaly guarding the visuals and the labels extending its sonic branding into stores.
Our Take: Should Brands Rehire the Same Holiday Team Every Year?
We'd tell brands to rehire a holiday team that already knows the brand's codes, and Anomaly has earned a third Starbucks holiday.
Repetition gets stale fast, though, and two Sharpie-drawn spots in a row leave Anomaly less room to surprise anyone.
John Lewis kept adam&eveDDB on its Christmas ads for 14 years, then moved to Saatchi & Saatchi in 2023 after a holiday ad that drew little buzz.
Aldi likewise reportedly cut McCann's parent Omnicom from its global creative review, even after Kevin the Carrot earned £618 million in added revenue.
Both splits came from business decisions at the top, so Anomaly's best protection is a cup band story that Starbucks would hate to hand to another agency.
Handmade production takes patient partners. Take a look at these top creative agencies in our directory.
