Fancy Starbucks on Game Of Thrones?

NEW YORK • Starbucks just got a break - a coffee break.

During Sunday night's episode of Game Of Thrones, eagle-eyed fans spotted a disposable coffee cup on a table.

The cup, which appeared for only a few seconds, presumably went unnoticed by the mediaeval fantasy epic's vast production team, reported The New York Times.

Game Of Thrones (2011 to present) is one of the most expensive and elaborately produced television shows.

Maybe the folk in charge of vetting the footage took a coffee break when the cup popped up in the scene, some folk joked.

"Maybe they assumed the lighting would be as dark as last week's instalment and nobody would notice," one fan noted on Twitter, alluding to complaints about a lack of lighting in the previous week's episode.

Was it a Starbucks cup as so many suggested online?

Folk at the coffee chain certainly skipped their own coffee breaks to tap this opportunity to brew up more publicity.

"We're surprised (the character in the show) didn't order a Dragon Drink," Starbucks said of its pink concoction with mango and dragonfruit flavours.

HBO, the company behind Game Of Thrones, also gave fans another sip of humour by saying in a statement: "The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake."

It added that one of the characters had ordered a "herbal tea".

But some netizens wonder if the coffee cup was inserted deliberately to whip up further publicity for the show.

How can a show that makes sure no one leaks secrets about, say, the plot slip up, they ask.

But The New York Times reported that bloopers have occurred in other mega shows.

In 2001 movie The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, which is set in a world without modern technology, a car can be seen in the background as main characters Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee converse in a field.

Downton Abbey (2010 to 2015), a popular British drama set in the early 20th century, released a promotional photo with a plastic water bottle in the background.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 08, 2019, with the headline Fancy Starbucks on Game Of Thrones?. Subscribe