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I love my Stanley cup, and all of you are making me embarrassed to have one

Juliana Kaplan   

I love my Stanley cup, and all of you are making me embarrassed to have one
  • Everyone is losing their minds over Stanley Cups, a mashup of an oversize cup and water bottle.
  • Stop collecting them — it defeats the purpose of a reusable water bottle.

If you've been on any corner of the Internet recently, you've encountered them: The Stanley Cups.

For the unacquainted, Stanley Cups are really big insulated tumblers. They're not quite water bottles, but instead answer the question: What if a drinking cup were almost a water bottle?

They have lids, straws, and a nice big handle that makes them easy to carry around. There are a few different shapes and sizes, but the 40-ounce cups have taken the spotlight. And, apparently, they've broken the Internet and everyone's brains.

As Stanley mania peaks, I am here to weigh in: I love my Stanley Cup, and all of you need to chill out. It's making it embarrassing to have one.

First of all, it's always a bit painful when something you enjoy achieves mainstream popularity, or worse: internet notoriety. What started as my perfect lazy-girl cup during the early days of remote work is now the subject of ridicule, a shorthand for everything that's wrong with TikTok consumerism and culture.

That's because some of my fellow Stanley lovers have lost the plot.

Stanley-crazed consumers are shoplifting thousands of dollars worth of them, swarming Target in an attempt to get their hands on limited-edition colors and trying to resell the cups for a hefty markup.

Target workers are, in turn, reportedly getting fired for buying the cups. Middle schoolers are enacting their own reusable cup version of Lord of the Flies over who has a real Stanley, and who dares to tote a dupe.

I admit that the internet and influencers are partially the reason I have a Stanley Cup in the first place. Like others, I encountered it via word of mouth, with a healthy dash of TikTok influencing sprinkled on top.

As Retail Dive reports, that type of word-of-mouth marketing has been a huge boon for Stanley — especially among younger women like myself. And it's big business: CNBC reported that Stanley used to rake in $70 million in annual sales pre-craze; in 2023, CNBC projected that its annual sales would be over $750 million.

Stanleys' rapid expansion during pandemic times — when knowledge workers like myself were spending their days accumulating savings and optimizing their small apartments — makes a lot of sense. You can stay hydrated all day, and you can minimize trips to refill your cup. Its contents are always nice and cold. And, honestly, mine is pink. It's cute! While the price tag is heftier than a normal drinking cup, I use mine (and wash it!) almost every day.

And Stanleys have a practical history. They have long been a favorite of mommy bloggers and nurses. They have far more physically strenuous jobs, and Stanleys are practical because they're easy to tote around if you're running through a hospital or take in the car since the bottoms are slim enough to fit into a cup holder.

But, really people, you only need one of them. I bought a small one to tote around, and I regret it; that's still too much Stanley for me. Some fans are amassing huge Stanley Cup collections, like the influencers who showcase rows of colorful, giant cups. This defeats the purpose of a reusable water bottle, which is supposed to reduce the number of cups you use and cut back on waste. Nor do middle schoolers need to carry around half of their body weight in cups that make immensely startling sounds when dropped.

Also, have you tried taking a Quencher on the subway or the bus? This is not a cup that makes sense on mass transit. Trust me: I've tried, and all I've received in return are glares from my fellow passengers.

And so I ask, let's please chill out with the Stanley mania. They are good cups, and that's about it. I just want to sip on mine in peace.



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