The Stanley Quencher mug has become a popular fixture with online influencers. In 2016, the Stanley 1913 company took a gamble and switched up the marketing. After hearing the experiences of the women from The Buy Guide, Stanley decided to partner with them and extend there range. From Retail Drive: It was the group’s first and only wholesale partnership of that kind with a brand. The Buy Guide sold out of its first 5,000 cups in about four days. It sold through the second 5,000 cups in an hour.
I was first introduced to the Stanley 1913 mug through Emily D. Baker, a legal commentary YouTuber during the pandemic. Emily went to explain the benefits of having such a big cup when she would stream. Having it there doesn’t break the flow when she is streaming.
I sat and thought about my current and future work setups. I am a writer and I always have a hot drink next to me. I remembered times when I was in the zone and finished my tea, I would not want to get up to get a drink and break my flow. Having a Stanley cup would mitigate that. I ordered a smaller one first, thinking the quencher would be too big. When it came I filled it up at the start of my day and took it to my office. It helped but I discovered that I in fact was reaching for the cup more than it had the water available. I needed to upgrade to a quencher.
In primary school I remember that there were days that I would actively forget to drink the water that was in my bottle. I have been trying to make a conscious effort to stay hydrated. My mum threatened so many times that my mum threatened to come to school to announce over the intercom for me to take a drink. As an aside, ever since figuring out that I belong to the people that identify as neurodivergent, I have found out that a lot of people with ADHD forget to drink. That was me in school, it wasn’t that I wasn’t thirsty, it was just that I forgot that my body needs fluids.
As I have been leaning into my neurodivergence I am discovering things about myself and my habits. I have figured out that I am someone who likes things for specific purposes. For me, having a Quencher in my kitchen has allowed me to keep my fluids up. It’s a constant reminder that I need to keep myself hydrated. So I brought a Quencher and it has been one of the best investments I have made.
I am not the only one who has fallen in love with these cups. On 3 January 2024 Stanley and Starbucks’ limited release, bright pink Quencher was made available in some Starbucks stores and limited Target locations. Where this TikTok trend started, soon on the site came videos of stampedes that would make someone think it was Black Friday.
There have also been Tiktoks of people showing off their collection of cups. People (mainly women) are calling themselves Stanley Girls. The Mary Sue put out an article entitled, ‘You’re Not a ‘Stanley Cup Girl,’ You’re Just a Product of Consumer Culture.’ Now, by the nature on the title alone, some people may classify me in that way. The difference between me and them, I am not going to race out to get every new colour that I like. That is why I went with crème — it goes with everything. I know also that I am taking part in consumer culture; however, I know that as someone in this world, we all take part in it.
It is a fact of life that companies create products for a particular market to create profit. When I was in school there were collectables too. Beanie babies. I know I got some of the bears, but there were a lot that I wanted that I didn’t end up getting. Those bears were marketed as collectibles to primarily a young audience. The same can be said for the Stanley mugs, except instead of a young audience the primary audience is working middle-aged people and mums.
I brought two mugs for a specific purpose — I wanted to increase my hydration level. That I brought into consumer culture, or followed a trend, is just a natural consequence of living in a world that is rapidly becoming connected.
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