Love ‘em or hate ‘em or attempting your darnedest to ignore them, one must at least be intrigued by the prolific explosion of the Stanley 40 oz Tumbler. We see them everywhere, whether it’s 20-somethings carrying one to class while nursing a hangover or 30-somethings brilliantly carrying the tumbler plus a toddler, keys, wallet, toy, and blanket, without spilling a drop. Try going a day, or an hour, in public without seeing the now-iconic tumbler.
A recent article on the CNBC website makes this observation:
“Over the past four years, the Stanley Quencher has become one of the most popular water bottles in the world. Sold in an ever-growing array of colors and finishes, the Quencher has supercharged Stanley’s sales by appealing to a demographic that Stanley didn’t spend too much time catering to in its first hundred years: women.”
Supercharged, indeed. With each new color comes more sales for the company, jumping from $73 million in 2019 to a whopping $402 million in 2022. Perhaps, had Stanley earlier identified brilliant marketing talent similar to Darcy Maguire (see movie What Women Want), they would not have missed out on a century of profits from female consumers.
But how did it happen? Enter the sometimes questionable power of the almighty online influencer.
Our own experience with these tumblers initially was great skepticism because of their association with influencers. But just as a toddler creeps her way into your bed at 2 am, so too did the Stanley tumbler into our SUVs and mom hearts. Here’s how it happened.
It started innocently enough. Bethany asked Kara in January 2022, “What’d you get for Christmas?”
She replied, “Oh, matching influencer mugs for M (her daughter) and me!” Attached to the reply was a photo of Kara with M—both were smiling and holding large tumbler mugs.
Bethany reviewed the photo, sitting in pensive bewilderment, as she attempted to identify what the bleep Kara was talking about.
The tumbler mugs were imprinted with the word Stanley. Something appearing to be a bear, wearing a crown and a pair of angel wings was printed on the front. There were pastel colors and a silver top band and ice-colored lids. The accompanying straws and large handles would make a full-sized vehicle proud.
Bethany, hesitant to commit to this conversation: “What is the influencer part?”
Kara: “Have you been under a rock the past few months? Haven’t you noticed all the influencers peddling these Stanley mugs? Internet sensation. Sold out all over. So I’m calling it my influencer mug.”
Bethany: *slightly intrigued, frowning at the phone as the text messages continued to roll in*
Kara expanded on her elevator pitch…
“…It’s huge. Holds 40 oz. But neatly fits in any cup holder and the weight is manageable because of the handle. Plus, I like the nostalgia of the Stanley brand. Dad used it / prob still does.”
By now, Bethany had not only realized that cynical-leaning Kara willingly allowed herself to be influenced by a brilliant marketing plan, Bethany was simultaneously feeling a sensation of being influenced. Not by an internet influencer, though, by her own sister!
Next text came in. “Here’s the link. Use your Amazon giftcard to buy one. Make sure it’s at the real Stanley store on Amazon. None of the knock off crap. And hurry. They sell out quick.” (For the record, these are not only available on Amazon. Stanley’s website, Stanley1913.com, is a great place to check first.)
Bethany blew an exasperated lip rumble. Put her phone down. Resumed prior activity. She didn’t need a new CUP the size of a 1980’s milk carton.
Suddenly, the influence crept back in like those five pounds one loses in early January. It absorbed her. What if the cups are forever gone? What if both of her sisters show up at the next gathering with matching influencer mugs and she is mug-less? What if she forgets how to drink without this cup? The dehydration! She found herself reaching, yet again, for her phone. Clicked the link.
“Oh. A lovely shade of sea foam.”
A force beyond herself added to cart.
She shrugged as she confirmed checkout, then screenshot her sister proof of purchase, who replied:
“I figure, the influencers gotta eat, right?”
It’s been a year since this exchange, and the number of influencer mugs in our own family has grown alongside the multiples of Stanley’s sales. The truth of it is, yes, scary marketing sold us the massive mug we now lovingly refer to as “Stan.” But the product itself is solid. We use these things on the daily. The number of fill ups is low, given their size. Our water intake is up. We mourn the rare day when we forget Stan at home or it finds itself stuck in the condemned building attached to a partially collapsed parking garage. (The latter event brought perfect opportunity to buy another Stan.) We love to antagonize our mom with
Stan. Our kids know Stan. He’s a part of our lives.
If you read our piece last week, one of Bethany’s 2024 goals is not to buy another Stan. But then Kara reminded her that new colors are out (as they always are).
With a hefty price tag of $45-to-infinity (if you are buying aftermarket), multiple Stans can be hard to justify to yourself or your significant other. Bethany achieves justification by showing the math on how quickly the investment paid for itself in her life and also helped save the environment by stopping her from buying the dreaded plastic water bottles.
Monthly water bottle pack:
$8
Stan, bought in 1/2022:
$40
Paid for self in 5 months. Additional 4 months $8 savings puts her net +$32.
Stan gets trapped 9/2022.
Bought second Stan:
$45 (inflation)
Back to a balanced ledger in mid 11/2022.
Now up $16 and counting.
Is there even a question?
What do you think of the Stanley explosion? Do you own a Stan? If not, why not? If so, was it worth the splurge? Did you buy your Stan on a whim, or was it a thoughtfully planned exercise? Let us know in the comments!
I first heard about Stan via another 'stack newsletter and someone had posted a link to a TikTok video of someone whose Stan survived a car fire. The company ended up buying her another car, which led me to checking out the site. The thing is, the water bottle I use (Clearly Filtered) has a filter in it. And this filter is The Shit. I sometimes like putting lemon or lime in my water, so I was thinking, "Cool. Cool. I can now drink lemon water." And my water bottle was all, "Bless your heart, Ori, for thinking that you can drink cool, refreshing lemon water from me. Psyche, bitch!!" I was just drinking regular ol' water because it FILTERED THE FUCKING HELL OUT OF MY WATER!! For. Real. And I was like, "Touche`, water bottle. Touche`." That turned into a shill for Clearly Filtered water bottles (clearly) --Sorry--but my point was... these Stan cups don't have filters. LOL I would totally consider buying one of these mega cups if it had a filter.
I have a couple of knockoffs that were given to us as gifts. Use them a little, in my cup holder on my M/ C