The Stanley Cup

[Cooked Crack]

 

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The Stanley Quencher H2.0, which has been trending on TikTok and inspiring stampedes at Target, is a quintessentially American vessel: great for people who love ice, who drive cars, or who are Just Too Busy to refill a smaller cup throughout the day. Until my editor asked me, in the wake of the craze, if I had “a reusable water bottle philosophy”—I write about climate change—I knew nothing about the Stanley. 

 

Friends filled me in: The insulated walls keep the contents cold all day. The base fits in cupholders; the handle makes it easier to sip from a heavy thermos while multitasking. A standard Stanley cup holds 40 ounces and runs $45. As my sister-in-law explained, it’s the expensive, brand-name version of a cup she got from Costco. “Except it’s been cult-ified,” she said. It’s basically a Big Gulp with a glow-up. 

 

On the one hand, good: A reusable cup is better than going through endless plastic bottles, cups, and straws. There are worse things than Americans getting really into fancy water bottles. A status symbol that comes with a lifetime warranty—that feels hopeful for the planet. 

 

But, of course, people aren’t just buying one and using it for life. To keep plastic out of oceans and to cut carbon emissions, reusable cups need to be used and reused, again and again, not hauled around for a season or two (or paired with an outfit) and then relegated to the back of the cupboard when a new model becomes hot. (Remember S’well?)

https://slate.com/technology/2024/01/stanley-cup-tumbler-reusable-water-bottle-target.html

 

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Dahlia hasn’t always been this popular. Last school year, she’d been the new girl at her Dallas middle school, where she mostly flew under the radar. 

 

Then, this year, she got a Stanley cup — and everything changed. 

 

“Every day when I get into school at like 7:45 a.m., everybody comes over to me like, ‘Oh my God, I like your Stanley!’ or ‘It’s so cool, I want a Stanley just like yours!’” the 13-year-old, who is in eighth grade, said. “It makes me feel like I’m famous and being swarmed by paparazzi.” 

 

Like many schools across the country, Dahlia’s middle school has been overtaken by Stanley cup fever. Though the insulated-beverage-container company has been around for over a century, its $45 “Quenchers” exploded in popularity over the past year alongside #WaterTok. On TikTok, enthusiasts show off their collections, some owning dozens of the 40-ounce candy-colored tumblers. (The amount of liquid can be a problem: “I don’t really drink out of it at school because we have to ask for bathroom passes,” Dahlia told me.) Target locations have been thrown into mayhem, with desperate buyers camping out for hours outside the stores and even resorting to physical violence in the hopes of snagging highly sought-after special-edition versions. 

 

The tumblers have particularly taken off among preteen girls, launching something of a cup-based social hierarchy in middle and even elementary schools — especially after students returned from winter break with the shiny new Stanleys they received for holiday presents. “I’m, like, a little bit more popular now, and I’ve been getting more friends because of it,” said Madalyn, a 9-year-old in Kentucky who owns five Stanleys. Her 16-year-old sister has 15 of them and more on the way. Some take it even further and accessorize their accessory with add-ons — from snack trays to phone pockets to decorative charms — sold on sites like Amazon, Temu, and Shein.

https://www.thecut.com/2024/01/stanley-cup-bullying-middle-school.html

[PokerPacker]

I don't get the fascination.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I’ve got one.

It is pretty nice. Holds a good amount of liquid, nice handle and you can definitely clock someone in the head with it and do some damage. 
 

It doesn’t keep ice frozen nearly the length of what everyone claims though. 
 

I like it a lot. I don’t get the fascination though. 

[China]

Just like any craze, every once and a while society gloms on to a particular item and it becomes popular for no apparent reason.  Remember fidget spinners?

[dfitzo53]

1 minute ago, China said:

Just like any craze, every once and a while society gloms on to a particular item and it becomes popular for no apparent reason.  Remember fidget spinners?

Yeah this is pretty much it.

 

Tons of girls at school have one.  They even banded together to get me one (I think it's a knock-off) as a holiday present.  I use it some days at school just to be polite because it was a gift, but honestly it's a little bigger than I'd like.  Just kind of unwieldy.  And God help you if you spill it, the amount of water to clean up is surprisingly large.

[Captain Wiggles]

[spjunkies]

I'm glad Ovi finally got one a few years ago. Those were the good days!

[PleaseBlitz]

It's a brilliant market scheme.  My wife told me about it initially and called it "the new it cup."  My reaction was, "wait, not only is there an "it" cup, but there have been more than one?  People are ****ing cattle."

 

Also partial to my Yeti 30oz Rambler (for hydration) and my Yeti 10oz lowball (for the opposite of hydration). 

Edited January 19 by PleaseBlitz

[ixcuincle]

spending all day on IG and this is possibly one of the most confusing social media trends I see these days

 

still not as bad as some of the others which are just beyond reprehensible

[Hersh]

And to think people used to/ still do make fun of the the dudes at the gym that walk around with gallon water bottles. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

1 hour ago, PleaseBlitz said:

It's a brilliant market scheme.  My wife told me about it initially and called it "the new it cup."  My reaction was, "wait, not only is there an "it" cup, but there have been more than one?  People are ****ing cattle."

 

Also partial to my Yeti 30oz Rambler (for hydration) and my Yeti 10oz lowball (for the opposite of hydration). 

She’s correct. 
 

This video went viral cause it’s funny cause it’s true. 
 

We have most of these, if not the exact ones the same brand just in a different size, including the last one (a personal favorite). 

Also hilarious to see you say that you’ve got no idea about an “it” cup and then tell us how you love your Yeti rambler, the “it” cup of like 2016. 

[PleaseBlitz]

2 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

We have most of these, if not the exact ones the same brand just in a different size, including the last one (a personal favorite). 

 

I regret to report that I have multiple of all of those except the Stanley, and my wife has 2 of the Stanley.  

[Spaceman Spiff]

10 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

I regret to report that I have multiple of all of those except the Stanley, and my wife has 2 of the Stanley.  

So you’ve been playing this game all along and you didn’t know it. 

[PleaseBlitz]

1 minute ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

So you’ve been playing this game all along and you didn’t know it. 

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Oh great, I see TTB lurking. Dude probably drives around in his Miata with a styrofoam McDonalds cup from 1988. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

The only cup I need, cause I’m the freestyle scientist.

 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

23 minutes ago, TradeTheBeal! said:

The only cup I need, cause I’m the freestyle scientist.

 

 

OBVIOUSLY I have one of these too.  Sometimes I use it to mix explosives, sometimes I use it as a wine decanter. 
 

 

 

[Captain Wiggles]

1 hour ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

Oh great, I see TTB lurking. Dude probably drives around in his Miata with a styrofoam McDonalds cup from 1988. 

 

😎

 

 

My folks house had boxes and cupboards filled with them Hardee's mooses cups. 🤣

[The Evil Genius]

Owala >> Stanley

 

I have this one. 

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

One of my first graders was crying in PE today because she couldn’t find her Stanley.

[CobraCommander]

I still raw dog it at the water fountain. I even cup my lips around the nipple.

[PleaseBlitz]

The proper term for a nalgene is now “an old school nalgene”.  

[Spaceman Spiff]

I always thought Nalgenes sucked. Virtually indestructible and held a lot of water but they sweat everywhere. I used to fill one up with ice and water and have it on my desk only to have a small pool of water settle under it after a bit.
 

No handle, either. It didn’t last long. But for some reason the granola types love a Nalgene. 
 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

33 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

I always thought Nalgenes sucked.

[China]

You Don’t Need a New Water Bottle

 

The Stanley Quencher H2.0, which has been trending on TikTok and inspiring stampedes at Target, is a quintessentially American vessel: great for people who love ice, who drive cars, or who are Just Too Busy to refill a smaller cup throughout the day. Until my editor asked me, in the wake of the craze, if I had “a reusable water bottle philosophy”—I write about climate change—I knew nothing about the Stanley.

 

Friends filled me in: The insulated walls keep the contents cold all day. The base fits in cupholders; the handle makes it easier to sip from a heavy thermos while multitasking. A standard Stanley cup holds 40 ounces and runs $45. As my sister-in-law explained, it’s the expensive, brand-name version of a cup she got from Costco. “Except it’s been cult-ified,” she said. It’s basically a Big Gulp with a glow-up.

 

Water bottle brands are fads. My reusable water bottle philosophy, if I have one, is that the best water bottle is the one you already have. That’s what’s good for the planet. But what reusable water bottles have become in our culture is very much not about environmentalism. They don’t fly off shelves because we care about plastic-free oceans, but, as with any fad, because we want to fit in. For this fad in particular, there’s also something else going on: Water bottles play to our thirst for perfect hydration.

 

As it turns out, drinking when you feel thirsty, as long as you aren’t drinking something super sugary, is a pretty good way to stay about as hydrated as you need to be. No complicated calculations needed. Pause and notice your body; then pause and take care of your needs. If another reusable water bottle is helpful for meeting those needs—get one. Ideally at a thrift store.

 

But the reusable water bottle craze is not just about our physical needs. Achieving peak hydration offers a sense of control in an uncertain world. Emotional Support Water Bottles can serve as psychological ballasts. When we feel insecure—whether we fear layoffs or a shifting of the social winds or the climate apocalypse—humans have an uncanny ability to allow objects to fill the void. You don’t need a new water bottle. You don’t need to overhydrate to be great. But you do deserve to feel safe. The better we get at supporting each other, the more resilient we will be when the next water bottle fad arrives.

 

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