Stanley Cup: what it is and why the water bottle has gone viral on TikTok

There is no doubt that carrying water, coffee or even tea in a reusable or thermal bottle is a good idea, a small gesture to contribute to the conservation of the planet.

Yet, even in this field, design cannot be left in the background.

And when you come to this thought, you look beyond and the focus shifts to something else that goes beyond the good for the health of the planet and a greener future. And it is very likely that this “something else” is found online, probably on TikTokthe place where trends are decided, where fashions follow one another so quickly that we barely have time to get the latest viral product, before something new will already have arrived.

The new obsession, purely American, is called Stanley Cup: a giant mug from 1.2 litres of capacity, made of recycled stainless steel, with side handles, twist lid and reusable straw, capable of keeping a drink hot or cold for hours. A century-old company, traditionally associated with camping and a predominantly male audience, which has achieved a real revolution with the cup Stanley Quencher H2.0 Flowstate™.

Minimalist in style, with a wide variety of colors – from classic to modern matte metallic tones – and the possibility of customization, it costs 49.95 euros on their websiteif you are lucky enough to find it available.

And if in USA you can also buy it in physical stores in different variations and colours, as far as that goes Europe and Italy at the moment it is available in only one variant (currently sold out)even if up Amazon It is currently availablealbeit at a significantly higher price.

A truly unparalleled success, so much so that the general frenzy led to real rushes to buy. Basti thinks that the supermarket chain Target, with stores throughout the United States, has launched a special edition of red and pink cups in collaboration with Starbucks and customers (literally) jumped at the chance. They equipped themselves with chairs to spend the night outdoors, formed long queues at the entrance… and then, obviously, ran out of supplies in just a few seconds. And on TikTok, obviously, the videos of the crazy purchase of Winter Pink Stanley Cup they were not missed. Target also had to limit purchases to two cups per person to control the compulsive purchases of addicts on the theme.

The beginning of success, of course, begins on the Internet, especially on TikTok, where themed videos started to become popular early last year where the hashtag #StanleyCup in fact, it has 7 billion views.

Riding the wave of success, the brand began to initiate several collaborations with US stars, making this cup a real collector's item which reached prices of 200-300 dollars on platforms such as eBay and Etsy. Second VICE, a Stanley mug sold for as much as $29,000 on the StockX website.

Stanley: the history of the brand born from camping

Although today they are considered symbols of generation Z and the millennials, Stanley's signature products were not born this way. The brand, in fact, launched the Quencher already in 2016 but, after very little success, decided to no longer stock its e-shop.

And here, the first brilliant intuition came from the founders of The Buy Guide, an advice and sales site, who, after a discussion with the company, decided to purchase 5,000 Quenchers which sold out in just 5 days. Demonstrating that, basically, it was necessary to identify a new target of interesting consumers and which was probably decidedly different from campers.

Then, with the hiring of the former marketing director of Crocs in 2020, Terence Reilly, with the role of Global President, Stanley's entire strategy has changed: «My experience at Crocs was guided by drop culture, a marketing strategy that consists of selling small quantities of product for a limited period of time,” he declared to CNBC the man who brought Crocs clogs to the catwalk and to the feet of celebs like Justin Bieber and Bad Bunny.

A decidedly winning strategy which, in 2023, led Stanley to sell for over 750 million dollars. It's all based on the need to create a “need” that cannot be satisfied immediately: rules of hyper-exclusivity followed by luxury brands and, now, adapted to cups for tea and coffee.

One last curiosity: the Stanley Quencher H2.0 Flowstate™ is the only thing left intact in a car fire that occurred in November 2023. The owner of the car recorded a video – viral and viewed more than 92 million times – recounting the feat of her Stanley who survived the fire.

Reilly then announced that she would be given a new car and, of course, a few extra cups.