A Discontinued Starbucks Cookie Is Freaking People Out

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)  --  Just about a month after Starbucks raised the ire of many over its red holiday cup, the coffee chain is finding itself trending on Twitter for reasons it probably never saw coming.

It's all because of their polar-bear-shaped cookies, which not only aren't new, they're discontinued.

In fact, Starbucks tells cbsphilly.com it stopped selling the cookies in 2010.

But for whatever reason, they've been unearthed- and people can't stop talking about how they're really an optical illusion with a sinister message.

They're posting pictures of the cookies on Twitter, and while most people probably see bears wearing red scarves made out of icing, others are seeing something decidedly different.

"I gotta love Starbucks new cookies. A polar bear with it's [sic] throat slit?" one person tweeted. "That's a holiday you don't forget."

Another wrote, "Adorable polar bear holiday cookies from #Starbucks? Or a #crimescene because they've all had their throats cut?"

Of course, many of these may be in jest, but it's clear Starbucks isn't exactly hitting it off with everyone this holiday season.

Back in November, many complained about the design  of the store's red ombre holiday cups, saying they lacked holiday decorations.

The issue sparked a lot of debate on social media and the company was forced to issue a press release.

"In the past, we have told stories with our holiday cups designs," Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks vice president of Design & Content, stated at the time. "This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories."

For Starbucks, the polar bears are in the past.

It says this year it's celebrating the season with holiday snowman cookies.

You can check out some more comments about the polar bear cookies below:

In:
• Starbucks
• Food & Drink
• Philadelphia