If you look inside your cabinet right now, do you see a Hydro Flask? Maybe a S’well or a Yeti? The trending Stanley cup and Owala? If you keep up with social media trends, I can guess that you may have at least one of these water bottles, possibly all of them, in multiple colors, because you can’t have just one, right?
Recently, Stanley cup fanatics proved the “can’t have just one” idea during a limited-edition collaboration with Target and Starbucks. As consumers flooded Target stores around the country to get a Stanley cup in “Winter Pink”. However, many wonder what the appeal is of having more than one water bottle from the same brand. Especially if you only drink and use one of them. A video of customers scrambling to grab the limited-edition Stanley cup, with almost every person shown grabbing more than one, went viral on TikTok. One viewer said what many people are thinking: “Is it everyone’s goal to collect as [many] colors as you can or? What happens with the other cups you have? So they just retire every time you get a new cup?”
The unfortunate reality is that people have been conditioned to overconsume in this culture of mass consumption. This leads to the larger issue of overconsumption and the negative effects that it can and will have on the environment. Overconsumption “worsens climate breakdown and increases air pollution” due to exhausting “the planet’s life support systems.” The irony here is that the Stanley and every other reusable water bottle is made to be reused. However, customers are buying so many different bottles that the original, eco-friendly purpose is lost.
Around 2015, there was a cultural shift away from plastic bottles and towards reusable water bottles. It became a way for people to become environmentally friendly, which is a great idea in theory. However, along the way, it seems we lost that initial purpose. Stanley is just one of the many water bottles that have become popular amongst consumers. Before 2015, water bottles like Nalgene, The Nipple Top, Contigo, and Camelbak were popular amongst athletes, like hikers, and younger kids for sports practices. Once social media evolved, and young adults and kids could see what their peers had, the water bottle culture catapulted. In a flurry of different, bright colors and designs, water bottles like S’well, Hydro Flask, Yeti, Owala, and now the Stanley could be seen in everyone’s hands. All these water bottles were consumed hastily, but then rarely seen again once popularity subsided. Alas, the sustainable and reusable product they bought in every color, won’t be reused anymore.
Despite the ongoing popularity, the Stanley craze has been met with mixed criticisms and reactions. News outlets and critics are quick to point out the higher marked price on the Stanley compared to less popular water bottles. With prices ranging from around $20 to $60, many claim the popularity of the brand is fueled by the desire to obtain a “class status symbol”. If you are seen carrying around a Stanley at school or work, you may be seen as someone who can afford to keep up with trends. Also, as someone who can buy what everyone wants but not everyone can have. Stanley cup owners push back on this narrative. People want to be able to enjoy their small luxuries and if they want to drink from a $45 water bottle that matches their outfit, they are going to. Stanley cup users claim that the criticism is rooted in misogyny, seeing as the majority percentage of Stanley cup consumers are women. An X user wrote: “the Stanley cup hate does not surprise me cause any time a large group of women like something other people have to tear it down. They hate seeing women enjoy things.” At first glance, this sort of reasoning makes sense to me as we see in the media that women’s interests are specifically targeted and face the most backlash. Women’s interests aren’t taken as seriously compared to men’s. However, I don’t think that is the correct argument for the Stanley cup criticism. I believe that regardless of gender, we have a responsibility to be environmentally friendly and eco-conscious in our purchases. Personally, I’d find it difficult to truly enjoy my reusable water bottle knowing that I have a hundred other ones just like it which are contributing to overconsumption. Aja Barber, the author of Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism, wrote in an Instagram post, “who gets to enjoy things on a burning planet where consumerism is definitely a problem?” Adding: “When a cup goes viral and U.S. citizens make it their mission to collect and acquire them, it will negatively impact the world.”
Despite the divided reasoning on why Stanley cups are so popular, many critics and specialists can agree that we are observing “textbook consumption”, or rather “our society’s capitalistic tendencies run amok.” One person does not need to cultivate a diverse collection of Stanley cups that will wait to be used in one’s cabinet when the purpose of them is to be reused every day. If you want to participate in a trend, then why not buy one color that you love? People can buy what they like, but it’s a matter of controlling the instinct to overconsume.