In the past few years there has been an obvious uprise in the popularity of Stanley’s 40-ounce insulated tumblers, but their popularity has skyrocketed since 2023.
Launched in 2016, Stanley’s come in multiple colors and sizes, but they have a distinct handle and tapered bottle to fit perfectly in a cup holder. This trend is evident on the URI campus in that there is a large portion of the student body that carry around them everywhere they go. Look around the library, a class or the gym: they fit in hands better than they fit in bags.
“I saw the video of the Stanley cup inside a car that was set on fire but their Stanley cup survived and I thought I should probably get that one,” second-year student Sunnie Dolegowski said.
Dolegowski is referring to the viral TikTok where a woman’s car caught on fire and the Stanley cup survived the aftermath and there was still ice inside.
“My favorite part of the Stanley cup is the straw because it’s fun,” Dolegowski said.
However, as the popularity may be clear, there were some critics. Some students had some comments to make about this bottle.
“The straw is cool but you need to buy a cap to keep it clean, whereas [Hydroflasks] the straw tucks away,” a URI student said.
“It’s a consumerism scheme,” another student said. “They are so inconvenient, you can’t put them in your backpack and you have to hold them upright.”
Recently, Stanley has been accused of lead poisoning from their products, according to the Today show. A Stanley representative responded to allegations that lead is present in their products by explaining that, while lead is used during the production process, the tumbler has to get damaged for the lead to be exposed.
“Our engineering and supply chain teams are making progress on innovative, alternative materials for use in the sealing process,” the same representative said to the Today show.
Customers of Stanley are testing for lead in their products at home. Videos of themselves tossing their Stanley cups in the trash have been uploaded by some users and we all know how much of an influence apps like TikTok have on society today.
Product reviews are made constantly through short reels, resulting in a multitude of videos about their lead poisoning allegations. Although you would think these videos leave an incredible loss of interest by the audience, still Stanley is selling out around the world and fast, as their product revenue in the last four years has gone from $70 million to $750 million, according to CNBC.
All in all, the student body is pretty divided when it comes to the Stanley Cup, you either get it or you don’t.