Game of Thrones season 8 art director clarifies the coffee cup in episode 4 was not from Starbucks

Viewers who tuned into Game of Thrones season 8 to catch the fourth episode, titled The Last of The Starks, could not help but notice a Starbucks cup that crept into the post-battle revelry scene. Now executive producer of the HBO show, Bernie Caulfield, has taken a dig at this gaffe. [caption id=“attachment_6579821” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] A still from The Last of The Starks where Daenerys is seen with a Starbucks cup. Twitter/@vlbonite[/caption] In an interview to  WNYC radio, Caulfield said “We’re sorry!" then joked, “Westeros was the first place to actually, you know, have Starbucks.” HBO too poked fun at this coffee cup fiasco. Admitting that it was a mistake, HBO said in a statement, “The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”

News from Winterfell.

The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. #Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea. pic.twitter.com/ypowxGgQRl

— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) May 6, 2019

On the other hand, art director of the show, Hauke Richter,  told Variety that it is a common occurrence for items to go unnoticed on the show and then end up on the final cut. In his statement to the publication, he added that the coffee cup blooper has been blown out of proportion because such a mistake has never been made by the show before. “Things can get forgotten on set. It was so blown out of proportion (because) it has not happened with Thrones so far,” he was quoted as saying. He also told TMZ that the coffee cup was not from Starbucks but from a coffee shop in Banbridge, Northern Ireland.  Meanwhile, Starbucks has effectively milked the entire goof-up, as MarketWatch observes that the unlikely product placement would have been worth a whopping $250,000. The coffee giant tweeted that they were surprised by Dany’s choice of beverage and had presumed that the Mother of Dragons would prefer the Dragon Drink.

TBH we're surprised she didn't order a Dragon Drink.

— Starbucks (@Starbucks) May 6, 2019