Of all the twists and turns on Game of Thrones’ most recent episode “The Last of the Starks,” the most shocking one for most of the internet was the appearance of an out-of-place cup of Starbucks coffee.
Was it an uncharacteristic slip-up from one of the most expensive shows on television? Or perhaps it was a more sinister attempt at product placement for the ubiquitous coffee chain?
According to Bernie Caulfield, an executive producer on the show, the offending cup was just a simple mistake. “We’re sorry!” Caulfield said in an interview with WNYC radio today, before quipping that “Westeros was the first place to actually, you know, have Starbucks.”
Caulfield noted that the gaff is rare for the show since its “prop people and decorators are so, you know, so on it 1,000 percent,” and “if that’s the worst thing they’re finding, then we’re in good shape.” While the mistake is certainly a bit embarrassing for HBO, everyone involved seems to be taking it in good humor.
There’s still no word yet from HBO on whether the company will be updating the episode to remove the misplaced Starbucks cup through some movie-editing magic, but as of publication time, the cup can still be seen on HBO’s streams of the episode.
HBO has released a statement though confirming that “the latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.” Read into that whatever you would like.
While the cup wasn’t intended as an advertisement, who knows what kind of doors it could open going forward. “Starbucks, send us money!” joked Caulfield, as the coffee chain has begun to use the unintended cameo to plug its (completely unrelated to Game of Thrones) Dragon Drink.
But concerned fans probably shouldn’t expect Daenerys to start plugging espresso in the middle of war council meetings anytime soon.
