You Still Have a Chance to Score a Sold-Out Starbucks Bearista Cup (for Free!) 

When the Starbucks Bearista — a cute bear-shaped glass cup for cold drinks topped with a green beanie lid — was released as part of Starbucks holiday merch in early November, it sold out in stores almost right away. Videos of the sweet “bear” were all over my feeds for days, and everyone’s been trying to figure out how to secure one ever since. Luckily, Starbucks announced a new way to land one of your very own viral Bearistas: the Starbucks for Life Merrython. By participating in the holiday challenge, you can win a variety of prizes, including, yep, you guessed it, the Bearista Cold Cup!

The Starbucks for Life 2025 Merrython is a monthlong holiday challenge that started on December 8 and goes until January 4. It’s reserved for Starbucks members only (which you can become for free by downloading the app and signing up) and offers the chance to win free Starbucks drinks, gift cards, bonus stars, and the Bearista Cold Cup. It’s a virtual, interactive game where you journey through four cities: Seattle, Milan, Tokyo, and NYC, collecting Starbucks red holiday cups as you go, as well as other menu items, like breakfast sandwiches and lattes, to earn extra points. 

To join, log in with your Starbucks Rewards account on Starbucksforlife.com. You can play on your laptop or smartphone.

After you sign into your Starbucks account, you’ll get a “prize play,” which you can redeem to play this year’s instant win game. Want in, but a little confused about how to play? I’ve got you. Here’s what you do:

1. Choose your city and avatar (each week, a new city is featured).
2. Collect as many red holiday cups (and other food items) as you can in 90 seconds in a “virtual run” through the city.
3. Invite friends to join and see who can score the highest.
4. Post scores and share prizes on social media.
5. Repeat and play as many times as you want.

If you play every week, you’re entered for a chance to win “Starbucks for Life,” which is a “daily credit” for a food or drink item for 30 years. The company is giving away four of these grand prizes, pulled weekly. There’s also a “Starbucks for a Year” sweepstakes prize that you have a chance to win during the third and fourth week of the activation. Find the full rules on the Starbucks for Life website, as well as visit the terms of use page for extra information. 

To get the chance to win this adorable cup, you have to play the instant win game described above. (You can also choose to click the “skip game” button and instantly see if you’ve won a prize.) The prizes include free drinks and food, bonus stars, and a gift card. And, of course, the cutest prize: the Bearista Cold Cup. Starbucks is giving out an average of 600 of them every day (that’s 17,000 over the course of the sweepstakes), according to the company’s official rules Ready, set, game on!