After Christmas break, it seems everybody and their mothers have a Stanley cup. No matter where you go, you’re guaranteed to see somebody carrying around this hefty 40 oz. tumbler.
But where did the love for these cups come from? What started the sudden craze? Stanley was founded in 1913 by William Stanley Jr., and has historically been advertised as an outdoorsy brand, marketed towards hikers and construction workers. So how did the Stanley explode in popularity among young women?
Their now iconic Quencher cups were not always Gen Z’s staple tumbler. Upon its release in 2016, the cup made little impact on consumers, who preferred Stanley’s classic green bottle. With low sales, Stanley stopped marketing and restocking the Quencher line in 2019.
Three young women who ran an online shopping blog called the Buy Guide caught wind of this. Being superfans of the tumbler, they saw the potential it had and reached out to Stanley to convince them to advertise to a new demographic that would rack in sales – women. Stanley agreed to work with the Buy Guide to sell 5,000 Quenchers directly to the blog’s female audience through a wholesale order.
Though the collaboration was both risky and costly for Stanley, the results were monumental. All 5,000 cups sold out on the website in days, more sales than Stanley had ever seen. Another order of 5,000 cups was put into the Buy Guide, and it sold out in one hour. The owners of the Buy Guide then joined Stanley’s affiliate network and revamped the Stanley brand, relaunching the cup and adding new colors. Stanley’s revenue skyrocketed from $73 million in 2019 to $94 million in 2020.
Their growth has been rising ever since, and clearly they’re the go-to cup for many people. But are they the best cup on the market? They may have leaking problems, but they will keep your drink cool even in a fire…literally. In a viral Tiktok posted by Danielle Lettering, she shows her car, destroyed from a fire, and her Stanley Cup sitting in the cupholder in perfect condition. The clip, which garnered over 96 million views, was seen by the president of Stanley, who stitched the video.
To viewers’ surprise, not only did they offer to replace her Stanley, but to replace her car as well. Stanley’s response to Danielle gathered a lot of positive comments about the brand, many saying their response made them buy their own Stanley.
This wasn’t the only time Stanley went viral on social media. Influencers have been promoting this trend for a while, showing off their cups and encouraging viewers to buy their own.
Capitalizing off of their popularity, Stanley has released limited edition Valentine’s Day cups and collaborative “Stanley x Starbucks” cups, which have caused a craze in Targets across America. Stanley fans even went as far as to wait in line overnight to be the first to get their hands on the new cup. One video of the Target frenzy went viral on Tiktok, gathering over 36 million views. In the video, signs can be seen on the Stanley shelves limiting one cup per person due to the overwhelming demand.
After seeing the lengths some people will go to for these cups, it’s no surprise resellers have caught on. On secondhand sites like Etsy and Ebay, listings of Stanley cups can be seen ranging from 90 dollars to 400 dollars.
It seems like Stanley’s popularity won’t be going away anytime soon. However, the Owala brand seems to be on the rise now as well. But no matter the brand, size, style, or color, here’s to hoping we stay hydrated, Harrison.
