Christmas is over, the ice caps are melting, and we’re never going to pay off our student loans. So why can’t you let us enjoy our Stanley Cups in peace?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or just your comforter because, you know, winter), you’ll know that Stanleymania has hit. Which is just like Beatlemania, except for plastic sip cups with matching straws.
The over 7 billion views related to #StanleyCup on TikTok are not just about the Stanley Cup hockey tournament, but about the increasingly elaborate accessories and additions to Stanley cups, whether it be clip-on animal straws, an in-built snack bowl, or a Quencher to match every outfit.
For years, the humble Stanley Adventure Quencher Travel Tumbler has been a staple in many households — but in the past few months, the Quencher has garnered an almost-religious-like following.
As everyone unwrapped their own Stanley Cups on Christmas morning, the trend has become inescapable. Creators are sharing shelf after shelf of their color-coordinated Quenchers. And after a mad rush at Target for limited edition tumblers went viral, the truth is clear: Stanley Cups are essentially Prime energy drinks for the girlies.
But as commentators jump to give their two cents on the viral Target clip, deriding it as an example of rapid consumerism, I can’t help but feel like they’re enjoying dunking on Stanley Cups that little too much.
Remember pumpkin-spiced lattes? The pretty innocuous seasonal drink has become shorthand for a very particular stereotype: namely, materialistic, ‘vapid’ millennial women influenced by social media who daren’t go anywhere without a deeply complicated coffee in hand.
And if no one else is going to say it, I will. That obsession we had about deriding millennial women for drinking a certain type of coffee stunk of misogyny, and with the ridicule Gen Z women and content creators are getting for using Stanley cups, it feels like it’s happening again.
So what if someone wants to carry their little flavored water in a color-coordinated cup with an in-built fruit bowl? It’s not hurting anyone, and given the state of the world, we deserve to have our small joys without ridicule. So I will keep drinking from my silly little tumbler in solidarity with the Stanley gals.
