What's the hype with Stanley cups?

Lenny@lemmy.world to Out of the loop@lemmy.world – 94 points –

I work from home and drink from mugs and I don't tiktok, so this whole trendy cup thing is really confusing me.

Do they uncurse bad water or something?

52

So you'll see some things about how it fits in a car cup holder (Lots of others do too) or how one survived a fire (This is just how insulated bottles like that tend to work) and those are all... good enough... but they're not why there's so much hype. The Hype has been carefully engineered. The head of the company is a Marketing guy, and he basically imported Sneaker culture into a new industry. Stanley Cups are released on a limited basis, with partnerships producing only limited supplies. It's induced scarcity and marketing, people are rushing to get one because if they don't rush, there won't be any more, and that makes more people want to rush to get one.

It's just an insulated cup that is intentionally hard to find sometimes. That's all.

I got my last insulated cup from a hardware store. $7 and change.

No branding at all, just "insulated stainless steel cup"

It's the best cup I've ever had, and I can't even tell people what to look for because the packaging was generic black text on white cardboard, around the base of the cup for stability. That's it.

It was basically xkcd's Brand Identity https://xkcd.com/993/, in cup form.

I forgot I made some hot chocolate one night last week, and when I woke up in the morning, all I had to do was stir it to get the chocolate mixed up well, and it was still warm. Not hot mind you, but warm enough to get me to work. I'd say hot time is 2-4 hours. 5-6 if you slide the lid closed.

Now I want to run some temperature tests but I don't have any temperature sensor and logging programs to do them though.

It's kept ice for 24 hours. I dumped it so no idea how long it CAN hold ice.

Also I have no idea how these times compare to the expensive brands, since I've never owned one. They could be sub-par. But they're infinitely better than the ceramic mugs or Styrofoam/plastic insulated cups I used before, so.... Yeah. They've got that going for them. Which is nice.

There is a brand that basically does exactly what that xkcd comic is talking about.

I know it from Pick n' Pay in South Africa but it seems Canada's "no name" brand probably came first.

Do you know what hardware store? I got a Thermos brand thermos for Christmas but it has a weird screw style stopper that makes it a hassle to drink from or open up, would very much like a solid insulated cup/bottle.

I wanna say Lowe's? I think? It was a couple years ago in Michigan, while I was visiting in-laws.

They were sitting on their own generic white cardboard display, the kind the store cuts the top off and everything is already shelved and priced.

Wait, you're not taking about hockey?

This is the third post I've seen about Stanley cups and only now did I realize it had nothing to do with hockey. I was very confused how someone had spent $3000 on Stanley cups

Not a hockey fan, is that because it's too cheap or too expensive?

I don't know anything about hockey either, but I'm pretty sure "The Stanley Cup" is their big trophy.

Correct, and it's a trophy you give back. The team doesn't keep it, the players get time with it, but it's been a tradition for over a century. The original is in Toronto Hockey hall of Fame, and the presentation cup is the one the teams win. After the bottom ring fills up with teams aver players who won the top ring is removed and put into the HHOF and a new blank is added at the bottom. Incredible tradition and I live every part of it.

It's just a tiktok fad, the Guardian had a good article recently. Normal conspicuous consumption nonsense. They're good quality, have been around for a long time, but now they come in colors. The cynical take would be that it is just the most recent way to visually confirm that someone has no individual personality without actually having to talk to them.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/12/stanley-cups-tumblers-water-bottle-trend

To be fair, I have no individual personality even without a Stanley cup.

You have bested me this time Sir, therefore I ask for this to be settled in the time honored way amongst gentlemen. Slappers only in GoldenEye at dawn.

The more cynical take is from a teacher perspective: yay we've regressed back to non sealing straws. And they're easier to knock over.

It's also the biggest excuse to leave class now. Gotta be constantly refilling.

From the article,

“My mom saw me fall down, and she said it took a while for me to get back up,” Howard, who is a first-grade teacher, said. “But it’s worth it, I think. I got the cup.”

Haha. Yeah, she was running through the store to go buy one for herself...

Little first graders aren't the ones carrying these to class, it's rich teens and preteens. And they already owned functioning bottles, so it's wasteful, too.

Again from the article

"Just as every girl had a Hydro Flask to match their backpack, her mom would have her own color of the Quencher.”

They partnered with 'influencers' i.e. idiots, to promote this, it worked.

This moron, who is a Teacher, was proud of her injuries. “But it’s worth it, I think. I got the cup.”

I would not let her go to the toilet on her own without a rope.

I could drink a slab of beer and still have better judgement that she does.

I think you're confused to my point.

I'm saying older kids are bringing Stanley's to school now, but they're way less functional for students than those hydroflasks (22oz versions, which is what your quote was talking about... the trend from a few years ago -- see VSCO girls) As a teacher watching the trend happen, because the trends always hit extra hard in American middle school, these are a particular annoyance.

Her first graders have the 22oz or less hydroflasks that close the straw so they don't spill, fit in the backpacks, and don't take much space on desks. The new trend is specifically 44oz Stanley's with exposed straw and skinny base to fit in cupholders. These are not conducive features for a classroom-transitioning school setting is ALL I'm saying.

I get that you're angry at this other teacher for wanting one for herself and you think she's a moron. Trends and influencers are not new things. There's always a trend. The teacher and her mom from the article are both adults, though, so nothing to do with anything I'm talking about.

Well you said this 'it's rich teens and preteens' which is not at all the target market, nor what is talked about in the article. They may be buying them, but the driver is the person with bruised knees in the linked article.

Apologies if I am getting this wrong, I frequently do.

Imagine being so insecure that you dismiss people out of hand based on what cup they use 😂

Imagine making a comment without reading the citation. Do I need to use an emoji in this reply?

You do actually need to use an emoji in the reply 😬 so that's probably pretty embarrassing for you

They used to be better. Or at least, the thermos were. I got a modern stanley thermos, from 2020. Holds temp fairly well, but not great. Hot coffee brewed fresh in the morning turns lukewarm by night. Ice cold water turns room temp in a day (no idea why that is).

A girl I used to date still had her father's stanley thermos from the 70s-80s. That fucker could hold temp for ages. Apparently the company got bought out, and replaced the graphite lining with air. Or something like that.

Still, miles better than anything I can get locally.

I don't know about their current quality, they were a buy it for life thing, I have my grandfathers kicking around somewhere, bought in the '50's. I still use it.

  • Good quality product
  • Suddenly gets popular
  • Ramp up production
  • Expand product range
  • Quality is now shit
  • "Anon have you heard of X, they're amazing!!!!!!!!"

(Edit: sorry, I get frustrated by trends)

It doesn't make sense to try to sell a quality product when the demand is based on a fad.

Trendy = bad for the consumer as a principle but it's not as if we have time to constantly second guess everything (without going crazy).

Birkenstock, DocMartens, Red Wing, Church's Kitchenaid, every "luxury" brand you can think of and most products listed on BIFL threads... (Also crocs but I feel they sell at such a low price point to begin with that it doesn't warrant cheaping out. Fake crocs are cheaper and just as durable though.)

All these brands get ultra-popular because one product goes viral which they start producing cheaply and use to grow their business and later, if succesful bring out a "heritage", "pro" or "classic" line for a higher price than the model was going for originally.

I don't think just accepting late stage capitalism dynamics is the best option.

If you're making pies and suddenly everyone wants a pie, you make as many as you can, for as long as it lasts. Maybe hire help. You don't start adding sawdust to the pie to stretch the recipe. These companies go straight to the sawdust option and it's disturbing.

Knowing nothing about the trend, I would look at how TikTok makes their money (advertising), and just sort of fill in the blanks from there.

One Ex-Vox Editor made a video about it: https://youtu.be/vrUWQ56GeyU

I think you mean Vox, not Vice (although if he was Vice too, apologies)

You're right! Not that many news sites starting with V...

I had no idea about them until my kid asked for one. She actually likes drinking water with it so it’s a win as far as I’m concerned.

The trend baffles me but I can vouch for the brand. I've owned their Go Bottle thermos for a year and I bring it everyday to work because I love hot drinks + the look. Best thermos I've ever had, definitely on the heavy side though.

My wife has one and she fills the bastard up with ice and then puts chilled water in first thing in the morning, the narrow bottom means it fits in the cars cupholders, we can run errands all day in Australia in summer and theres still Ice clinking in the bastard at the end of the day.

They work.

Weren't Yeti and Pelican doing it first anyways?

No, Stanley is much older than either of those brands. They are a tool manufacturer that also makes appliances and camping gear. Stanley thermoses were the gold standard for insulated containers in the early 20th century.

Ah right I remember their tools. Interesting

It's effective guerilla marketing, and impressionable people, nothing more. Stanley cups, thermos, whatever, are the same as they've always been.

Really good video on the subject.

TLDW: sneaker-drop marketing applied to water bottles.

Almost everybody else here is lying and they're just jealous they didn't get their new cup in whatever shade of unhealthy skin tone fits theirs because they were sold out.

..or is it just me?

Manufactured scarcity via "drop" "culture".

You can thank your local sneakerhead.

Basically Commodity Fetishism. There's nothing inherently mystical about a Stanley Cup, but thanks to artificial scarcity and hype culture it's now in demand.

They are fantastic, as well as adding a buck of colors and a well timed ad campaign.

Gen z/alpha is learning what x and millennials have known for a while. Stanley makes good shit, and now it's colorful lol