WTF Is Up With Those Stanley Cups?

Earlier today, if you typed “Stanley Tumbler” into re-sell site StockX, you’d see a clunky $50 cup selling for $29,000. No, this bottle doesn’t have magical qualities, like turning water into wine or hanging up your washing. It’s literally a bog-standard, perhaps even inconveniently large, drinking receptacle. (Prices have come down a bit now to the still-absurd $350.) So why are people physically brawling to get their hands on one?

The #StanleyTumbler TikTok hashtag has been viewed more than 980 million times, with viral videos showing people queuing for hours in the rain, ransacking supermarket shelves and displaying collections in their homes like works of art. The #StanleyCup hashtag, formerly a National Hockey League trophy page, has even been overrun by the product, spiking views up to a whopping 6.7 billion. 

@vice

someone bought or took down the $29k cup right after we recorded this vid, but still. they’re going for $100s. just a cup! #stanleycup #stanleycupexplained #cups #stockx

♬ News serious information news program – gooooodee_jay

The soccer mom-looking cup is responsible for a $676 million increase in revenue, from 2019 to 2023, for the brand Stanley – despite the fact it’s just a cup that comes in different colours. People are also fighting over these colours which, you guessed it, there’s absolutely nothing special about.

So how the hell did this happen? In 2020, Stanley began to roll out an exhaustive library of designs, and market them to influencers. This led to an increase in sales, because what says personality more than matching your outfit to your water device?

Terence Reilly, former Chief Marketing Officer for Crocs and current Stanley President, told CNBC Make It: “My experience at Crocs told me that influencer opportunity was just the magic that Stanley might need. And we were right.”

Now, following the rule-book of forced hyper-exclusivity typically only seen in hype bro fashion brands, Stanley are dropping exclusives, like their Stanley X Starbucks collab, which led people to literally camp out outside stores. 

Their most recent drop – a limited edition Valentine’s Day cup, in a fairly normal pink and a fairly normal red – has people performing citizen’s arrests in Target in an effort to cop. 

So there you have it: Take a basic utensil, paint it blue, then pretend that renaming that blue as “Arctic Twist” makes it more interesting. Our thirst for capitalism knows no bounds.