The answer to why everyone loves Stanely cups is simple, but not everybody would like to hear it. This isn’t just about how a Stanley Cup could survive a fire, because the company has been strategically marketing the return of its Quencher tumblers.
The Stanley Cup fad isn’t the first of its kind. In 2019, Gen-Z and Millenials couldn’t get enough of Hydro Flasks. The $50 price tag didn’t matter because these trendy insulated water jugs had nifty hand carriers.
Hydro Flasks kept drinks cold, and they were complimentary to the VSCO girl aesthetic (and I oop). It was no longer just a bottle, but an integral part of a popular aesthetic at the time. People were collecting colors of Hydro Flasks like Infinity Stones. A minor dent was a good enough reason for people to buy a new Hydro Flask because dents aren’t covered by the lifetime warranty.
Helen of Troy, the company behind the bottle, has marketed the Hydro Flask as environment-friendly. Even if their production chain isn’t heavily scrutinized, the biggest irony about the Hydro Flask is that its promotion heavily encourages consumerism. Never mind that being environmentally conscious should be a lifestyle, not just a fad to be thrown away once it’s no longer trendy.
Why does everybody want a Stanley cup?
Tiktok made the Hydro Flask (along with other brands) an integral part of a trendy aesthetic, and buying one of these water bottles made people feel like they were part of a digital subculture. The same is true for the Stanley cup. It’s that simple: What has really made people love them is marketing, more so than any unique feature of the cups themselves. The only difference with the signature Quencher cup is that it’s marketed not just as a practical water bottle anymore.
It’s now an important accessory for anybody who wants to be part of the “Stanley Cup Girls.” Women have been wearing Stanley cups like sling bags on the go. There are also several videos of women putting snack trays on their Quencher cups or camping out for the latest Stanley Quencher collaboration.
But can’t the world just let women enjoy nice things and move on? Everybody lives under capitalism, so why is everybody making a fuss just because women are enjoying themselves over something harmless and mundane? This is a tough pill to swallow, but hyper-consumerism isn’t harmless. On a financial level, companies are exploiting algorithms and creating artificial needs to target specific audiences. In this case, women are targeted and are being sold on a hype that’s neither innovative nor necessary. Nobody needs a dozen Stanley cups, but marketing is conditioning women into buying the latest designs, even if the point of owning a reusable water bottle is to cut back on waste.
(featured image: Stanley)
