- The Stanley Quencher has become a status symbol for middle school students.
- The $45 cup was a popular holiday gift for teenagers, but now it's back at school causing a rift.
- “They only talk to me in the morning when I'm holding Stanley,” one tween told The Cut.
It's no exaggeration to say that the Stanley Cup (a colorful 40-ounce container of water) is tearing apart the fabric of our society.
There was a near riot at Target, with people stealing the Stanley/Starbucks collaboration cups and reselling them at sky-high prices.
Now the Stanley family has come seeking our nation's children.
The Cut reports that Stanley has become a new status symbol for middle school girls. Julia Reinstein spoke to her teachers, parents, and children about how Stanleymania is wreaking havoc on schools.
“I get to school every day at about 7:45 a.m. and people come up to me and say, 'Oh my god, I love you Stanley!'” “So cool. I want a Stanley like you!'' said the 13-year-old eighth grader. “I feel like I'm famous and the paparazzi are swarming me.”
Stanley has been making insulated cups for 100 years, but their 40-ounce straw quencher cup has exploded in the last few years thanks to a blog called The Buy Guide. The cup has come to symbolize TikTok's “clean girl” aesthetic.
Stanley may have been at the height of its popularity this holiday season, when it seemed to be the most common gift Gen Z wanted or received for Christmas.
However, Casey Lewis, who reports on consumer trends among young people, believes that the fact that young Gen Zers are picking up this cup could mean that the Stanley trend has reached its peak. I warned you.
Basically, once middle school students master it, teenagers and college students move on to something new. (Probably Owara Cup.)
Lewis' prediction appears to be correct. Cups are now a popular item among junior high school girls. This demographic is not known for its kind behavior when it deviates from the norm.
God forbid you own a Stanley “duck.”
Reinstein reports:
Another woman, Jamie Sherman, said her 11-year-old niece was bullied by classmates after she brought an off-brand cup to her New Hampshire middle school, which was basically the exact same product minus the Stanley logo. He said he received it. “When girls pass her in the hallway, they laugh and point and say, 'That's not real,'” Sherman said. “Now she doesn't want to take it to school and she doesn't want to use it.”
Middle school is the time when kids get ruthless about who has or doesn't have arbitrary status symbols, whether it's Uggs or the correct way to fold the waistband of gym shorts.
However, the fact that water bottles are an obsession for Generation Alpha (children currently under the age of 13) makes some sense, considering that they grew up always carrying their own water bottles with them from an early age. I may be able to do it. They were young children. (In my day, we used – gasp – school water stations).
And finally, one final quote that will make you feel colder than the water in a Stanley cup left in a car on fire.
Daria, who lives in Dallas, loves her cup but has mixed feelings about its newfound popularity. “I can't say any of them are actually my friends,” she said. “They only talk to me in the morning when I'm holding Stanley.”
Brrrrrrrr….. 🥶🥶🥶🥶
