"All for a Stanley?"

January 6, 2024 10:19 AM

Starbucks' latest Stanley (Bon Appetit) collaboration causes havoc (Today, Detroit Free Press) at Target.

The search for Stanley tumblers has reached a tipping point (WaPo). Why (NYT)? No, seriously, why (Huffpo)?

While the cups will not be restocked (People), USA Today has collected some similar options.

posted by box (139 comments total)

I'm not a sports person, but seeing all the headlines about "Stanley cups" made even me ask "What, the hockey trophy?"
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:23 AM on January 6 [51 favorites]

USA Today has collected some similar options.

As if you can enter any business with a Square reader and not be buried, cartoon avalanche style, in knockoff insulated steel tumblers right now
posted by penduluum at 10:38 AM on January 6 [10 favorites]

The marketing guru Seth Godin defines "culture" as "People like us do things like this", but I never cease to be amazed as how hard brand marketing can crank that human impulse (and how hard people can get cranked by it)
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:44 AM on January 6 [28 favorites]

At least it's a durable product, not throwaway garbage or fast fashion. I guess. Sooner or later they'll be all over the thrift shops and that'll be nice for everyone who thinks $45 is better spent on a bag of groceries.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:47 AM on January 6 [19 favorites]

This... clearly appears to be about the desire to turn them over for a resale. For more information on why people want them you'd have to talk to the subsequent ebay bidders, not to the people fighting over them in Target, because that's about making money.... unless you *want* to talk about working class people's side hustles.
posted by Selena777 at 10:50 AM on January 6 [26 favorites]

Yeah this is absolutely resale speculation. It happens for basically every limited-run item. Very few of these people intend to actually use these tumblers, they are just hoping some fellow with more money than sense buys them at a markup for his girlfriend or wife as a Valentine's Day gift.
posted by potrzebie at 10:53 AM on January 6 [6 favorites]

This is stupid on a beanie-baby level, on the other hand, I’m definitely pro-havoc.
posted by rikschell at 10:56 AM on January 6 [41 favorites]

When I hear a brand called Stanley, the first thing that comes to my mind is a Stanley knife. This thing seems more friendly.
posted by Termite at 11:09 AM on January 6 [3 favorites]

I used to work with women who also felt this way about Yeti products. Again, I am not here to yuck anyone's yum but it doesn't escape me that this phenomenon is mostly gender-coded and is subject to ridicule because women love them.

(Uh, I use a Mason jar for my daily water intake. I feel like some sort of weird hobo about it but I have a lot of Mason jars going spare.)
posted by Kitteh at 11:09 AM on January 6 [13 favorites]

If you watched the video of the lady naming all the colors of her giant wall of cups and felt yourself emotionally drawn to it in an inexplicable way but don't have several thousand dollars, may I suggest to you: nail polish. Here is a really good sale right now where for the price of a single Stanley cup you can get a lovely spectrum of pretties to covet.
posted by phunniemee at 11:10 AM on January 6 [21 favorites]

i had literally never heard of these things until 2 days ago, at which point they have suddenly invaded almost every website and news feed thing i have looked at. i wonder how much this company has spent on this media carpet bombing. at least myanimelist.com is safe for now.
posted by glonous keming at 11:14 AM on January 6 [11 favorites]

This marketing pro... is behind the Stanley tumbler you can't escape (Inc.)

The guy in that article used to work for Crocs.

(While putting this post together, I noticed that some trend forecasters think that Owala bottles/tumblers will be the next big thing. Do with this knowledge what you will.)
posted by box at 11:21 AM on January 6 [9 favorites]

God I can't wait for capitalism to finish imploding.
posted by signal at 11:27 AM on January 6 [33 favorites]

Never heard of the trend until today.

Judging from the Owala website, they are definitely angling on being the next big trend, even bragging about $400 resale prices on limited editions on their website.

Just when I thought capitalism couldn’t get any stupider. Commodity products being pushed as limited edition bullshit because the colour is slightly different.

I’ll stick to drinking water from my ancient beat up Nalgene, thanks.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:58 AM on January 6 [4 favorites]

Hmm, I thought using Nalgene flasks for travel was just an earlier trend/fad. They started out as labware flasks.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:06 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]

The wild thing to me is that these are 40 ounce cups (about 1.2 liters, for our metric friends). That's an absurd size for a cup ("tumbler") and despite the skinny lower part to fit the car cupholder, would be prone to tipping over going around a curve.

People love standing in line and competing for products, and somehow there is a resale market despite everyone knowing that if you just wait for a while, they'll be worthless soon enough.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:09 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

My 9 year old daughter got one (not the Starbucks model) for Christmas + flipped her wig - thanks for providing some context to what otherwise seemed like more wholly inexplicable child behavior.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:38 PM on January 6 [9 favorites]

I actually *like* Crocs (they are like plastic flip-flops but whole foot, they're comfy and dumb-looking and I can count on being ignored when I wear them, plus you can stick silly ornaments on them). But cups? What? The whole "resale value" thing is just hopeful greed, pure and simple, and the problem is that almost no one ever gets back anything like the value they expended for any "collectors item." I know of people who seriously hold on to the boxes for all their children's toys, because I follow r/declutter on Reddit, but there is a reason these people are in despair over their living conditions.
posted by Peach at 12:46 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

They started out as labware flasks.

Yup. I still have one that I got out of a scientific supply catalogue back in my lab days. But they are pretty well standard for hiking and camping. Indestructible with standard sized threads that will take a water filter pump. You can buy them all over the place and they are relatively cheap. Two 1L nalgene bottles are standard kit for our scout group.
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:52 PM on January 6 [6 favorites]

Ref'd in the article Relevant to the Stanley Acendant

Doesn't take a marketing genius to cash in off that free (price on one car?) advertising
posted by djseafood at 12:59 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

Ha, so this is my fourth encounter with the Stanley brand cup story in one form or another across three days and this time my curiosity was piqued enough to finally say "what the hell is this Stanley story and why do I keep see it in the span of three days?!" So congrats, you got me, and now I know what it is but not why it's not even come remotely near my radar - oh wait, it's TikTok, that explains everything.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 1:24 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

Back in the late 80s or early 90s a previous co-worker and his wife collected the hell out of all sorts of promotional/"limited edition" products - toys, novelties (remember the California Raisins?), glassware (remember Flintstones cups?), on and on and on - apparently they had boxes and boxes of the stuff in their basement. He called it their "retirement fund". Most of that kind of stuff is going cheap on Ebay and the like. I hope he also had a 401k to fall back on...
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:28 PM on January 6 [4 favorites]

I was at Target last week and overheard the store clerks lie to people coming up to them asking for the new Stanley’s. I know they were lying because the clerks explained to the confused new clerk that it was best practice to lie because they had no idea if they’d get the right colors and if they did anything other then confidently say “We aren’t getting them” customers would make it impossible for them to do anything until they got an answer. There was so much exhaustion in their voices.
posted by lepus at 1:35 PM on January 6 [24 favorites]

Never heard of this until this post, but then again, I'm kind of a hermit in that way. Something about travel mugs makes people kind of obsessed. Years ago my brother got a Yeti mug similar to this, and he marveled and waxed rhapsodic about how cool the water stayed in it. Like all day! The ice was barely melted! And so on. And I just replied, yeah, isn't that all insulated mugs? I don't see the excitement factor in travel beverage mugs, but I've got time. Maybe it'll click with me someday.
posted by zardoz at 1:38 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

I didn't realize I was a crypto*-hipster until I realized I like acquiring stuff that apparently works better than the usual stuff but isn't mainstream.

* as in incognito
posted by torokunai at 1:42 PM on January 6

I never understand why a mass-produced (in the millions!) cheap thing is ever seen to have value. The earth groans.
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:42 PM on January 6 [10 favorites]

this phenomenon is mostly gender-coded and is subject to ridicule because women love them.

It's subject to ridicule because it's ridiculous.
posted by pracowity at 1:42 PM on January 6 [15 favorites]

I never understand why a mass-produced (in the millions!) cheap thing is ever seen to have value.

Humans, for example.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:45 PM on January 6 [11 favorites]

I don't appreciate you using my comment to dismiss the entire human race as valueless.

We're talking about objects, not thinking, feeling human beings.
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:55 PM on January 6 [6 favorites]

The wild thing to me is that these are 40 ounce cups (about 1.2 liters, for our metric friends). That's an absurd size for a cup ("tumbler") and despite the skinny lower part to fit the car cupholder, would be prone to tipping over going around a curve.

It’s passing strange that the article chooses to portray and link to the 40 oz size when there are three smaller sizes — 14, 20, and 30 oz — of which the 14 oz at $20 must surely be the most popular.

This Stanley line came out in, like 2021 at the latest, and I linked to one of its products here in a relevant Ask, and don’t remember hearing a peep about it here or anywhere else. I thought whole line had basically failed and am amazed to see this story.

I haven’t held one in my hand, but I’ve looked at pages describing it a bunch of times, and not one image shows the base of the cups or any other part of the line from below. I don’t think that’s an oversight, because failing to put a stainless steel cap on the bottom is a very serious design flaw in my opinion, and is very much at odds with quite long standing Stanley tradition.

In the absence of that cap a tiny ding will spoil the looks of these things, and normal use will probably wear the finish off the base/bottom in short order.

Nissan before it became Thermos-Nissan produced some very elegant and durable 300 and 500 ml vacuum insulated stainless steel commuter coffee cups back in the '80s, and it’s been downhill ever since in the entire market.

I don’t really get that.
posted by jamjam at 1:57 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

It's subject to ridicule because it's ridiculous

Thought the same about cabbage patch dolls whilst there may be more utility in the doll, a 45$ thermomug better have the powers of Matryoshka plastered in green stamps.
posted by clavdivs at 2:03 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

If you haven't seen WaterTok (mentioned probably in one of the articles above) it's part of why these are so popular; WaterTok is essentially, so far as I can tell, Mormonish looking cis presumably het white women putting inordinate amounts of sugar are other flavorants into the water they use to hydrate and they share these "recipes" on TikTok

It is deeply puzzling.
posted by i used to be someone else at 2:21 PM on January 6 [12 favorites]

Do the watertok women really get into the subject of sexual orientation?
posted by Selena777 at 2:30 PM on January 6

"culture" as "People like us do things like this"
posted by clew at 2:35 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

→ When I hear a brand called Stanley, the first thing that comes to my mind is a Stanley knife.

For me, it's bench planes
posted by scruss at 2:36 PM on January 6 [9 favorites]

tiny frying pan: We're talking about objects, not thinking, feeling human beings.

I think you owe poor Stanley an apology.
posted by dr_dank at 2:37 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

It’s passing strange that the article chooses to portray and link to the 40 oz size when there are three smaller sizes — 14, 20, and 30 oz — of which the 14 oz at $20 must surely be the most popular.

It’s the 40z one that is the viral one, which to me is ridiculous as it weighs “nearly 1.5 pounds [680g] empty and almost 4 pounds [1.81kg] filled” [Wirecutter / Archive]

It screams of car culture as you’re not lugging this on public transport.
posted by ellieBOA at 2:53 PM on January 6 [11 favorites]

Do the watertok women really get into the subject of sexual orientation?

well, given that pronouns are required for everything these days...

more seriously, it's more that many of them reference husbands and boyfriends? so they're not really getting into it per se, but it's there.

It's not like I've done an ethnographic study or anything, just lost some time getting progressively more in my head as to what constitutes the boundary between "water" and "homegrown recipes for non-fizzy soft drinks"
posted by i used to be someone else at 2:56 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

I worked at a Hallmark at the very tail end of the Beanie Baby craze - like, long after the majority of fans had moved on. We still had people work out which day deliveries were made, stake out the store, and ask to rummage through the new delivery in hopes of finding something rare.
posted by PussKillian at 2:56 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

Alright, who else heard Kevan Brighting's voice when they read that post title?
posted by BiggerJ at 3:06 PM on January 6

Watertok is amazing because you have:

- people, mostly women, making “hydration stations” of multiple flavourings for water that rival craft beer people
- other people, mostly women but includes health/wellness/granola/personal training people, explaining why putting skittles flavouring in your water is so bad for you
- anti-diet-culture people slamming both
- fat phobic people policing the bodies of all of the above
- people making fun of the water tok trend
- people defending most of the above

Personally I think water bottles being quasi prestige objects makes sense in a world where:
- many people can’t own a home and obsess over their appliances
- climate change is a thing so no one wants to be stuck buying water
- hot coffee etc is becoming an old thing and drinks with straws are ascendant whether caffeinated or no
- self-care is a thing and if a fancy bottle makes you happy every sip, why not?
- water is way cheaper, flavoured or not, than Starbucks etc.
- GOOP- flavoured celebrity culture

It reminds me of Swatches. I had 5!
posted by warriorqueen at 3:09 PM on January 6 [23 favorites]

It screams of car culture as you’re not lugging this on public transport.

Yeah, it looks like it's for people who want a bucket that fits in their SUV's cupholder.
posted by pracowity at 3:10 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

Yeah, it looks like it's for people who want a bucket that fits in their SUV's cupholder.

I dunno, I feel like you all just haven’t been around younger people or something because 40-64 oz water bottles have been visible in my younger staff’s areas -both martial arts and comms - since before Covid, including loads who don’t have cars. They just fill them up at work. It’s how they track their intake for the work day.
posted by warriorqueen at 3:14 PM on January 6 [16 favorites]

If you haven't seen WaterTok (mentioned probably in one of the articles above) it's part of why these are so popular; WaterTok is essentially, so far as I can tell, Mormonish looking cis presumably het white women putting inordinate amounts of sugar are other flavorants into the water they use to hydrate and they share these "recipes" on TikTok

Do they at least let it ferment for a few days to make some mildly-alcoholic hooch?
posted by Dip Flash at 3:14 PM on January 6

I will say that a double-walled drink container is a practical luxury. In addition to being reusable, it keeps hot drinks hot for hours and cold drinks cold even longer. A double-walled sippy cup, filled with ice and water, offering freezy-cold and refreshing sips on demand, was what got me through my bout with covid, and ice water at 32°F is just nice to drink. Also, I like my coffee HOT HOT HOT, and esophageal cancer be damned. (I am a land of many contrasts.) I recommend Kleen Kanteen. They use 90% recycled steel in 95% of their products.

The Starbucks Stanley tumblers ("We’re committed to making at least 50% of our stainless steel products from recycled materials by 2025."), in addition to being double-walled, also have a vacuum between the walls like most Stanley products (including their old-school thermos, which my dad took to work with coffee every day of his life). So they are even better insulators, though I find a regular double-walled insulated cup to be perfectly adequate for non-extreme-temp applications. (Storing and transporting liquid nitrogen being the exception.)
posted by BrashTech at 3:22 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]

Do they at least let it ferment for a few days to make some mildly-alcoholic hooch?

Nope.

So, to be charitable about this - in an earlier discussion, someone pointed out that "WaterTok" likely got started as a legit niche need for some people - I think it was people who had bariatric surgery and needed to really up their water intake, but having to drink that much water without giving it some kind of oomph was making them crazy, so they were sharing tips for putting a little flavoring in it. But then - like gluten-free diets, "clean eating", and other food trends - other people who didn't have that same kind of need for it just took it and ran with it.

I kind of side with this Canadian comedian, Kurtis Conner, who did a video about the WaterTok trend. His take was "look, people can drink whatever they want, I don't care. but...if you're going to dump that much stuff in your water, just admit that it's not water any more, but is instead DIY soda." In one instance, he also points out the huge collection of these Stanley tumblers one woman has, and asks..."Isn't the whole point of reusable water bottles that you can....reuse them? Why WOULD someone need ten of them?"

...Honestly, the last time I bought any kind of reusable tumbler, I used an Amazon gift card for it, and I only got it because I'd applied for a job with the company and thought that if they ever called me in for an interview it'd be a good prop. They never called me in though, but hey, that tumbler's gotten use and I got it for free so whatever.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:27 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]

I think it was people who had bariatric surgery and needed to really up their water intake

...or for those prepping for their colonoscopy
posted by Rash at 3:39 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

They should make a tiny one as an accessory for beanie babies. How darling would that be.
posted by Czjewel at 3:46 PM on January 6 [11 favorites]

zojirushi 4 lyfe
posted by rifflesby at 4:13 PM on January 6 [14 favorites]

For the life of me, I do not understand not drinking your beverage in whole as soon as you can. I’ve… never needed insulation?

Not going to harsh anyone’s buzz, I just simply don’t grok this in the slightest. You do you.
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:14 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]

Having heard otherwise reserved coworkers gushing over their Owala bottles, I entirely believe they are going to be a hugely coveted status symbol within the next year.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 4:30 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

"Everyone inside the cup was fine, Stanley!"
posted by MonsieurPEB at 4:31 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

There are people who have been advised to drink an ungodly amount of water - like a couple liters daily, more than a non-parched person would even want or be able to safely consume in a sitting. I was told to do this by a dietician after not listening to a personal trainer who told me to do it because of conflicting studies and my own credentialism so I bought a $15 knockoff from a big box store.
posted by Selena777 at 4:32 PM on January 6

May I ask what the reason for drinking that much water was, from the dietician? It's OK if you don't want to share. I know drinking water is a fine replacement for juice and soda, but it's hard to imagine why you'd want to force more water than you'd be drinking liquids anyway.

As far as I can tell, we're about halfway through the trend lifecycle. If tweens are starting to get into it, it's on its way out. Next comes a NY Times style section article, and that's when we'll know the trend is truly dying.
posted by blnkfrnk at 4:50 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

Next comes a NY Times style section article, and that's when we'll know the trend is truly dying.

I regret to inform you the NYT trend piece on Stanley mugs (gift link) was published in May, 2022.

Krystle Perkins, a 32-year-old content creator in Dallas, has bought eight Quenchers and uses at least two of them every day. “One for water and one for a fun beverage,” Ms. Perkins said. She appreciates the product’s handle, straw and ability to keep her water cold for hours, even in her car.

She bought her first tumbler after seeing a post by Isabelle Baker, a blogger and influencer from Salt Lake City whose content is focused partly on motherhood. “Once you get the Utah mom influencers on board, it spreads like wildfire,” said Ms. Perkins, a mother herself.

The whole thing is fascinating. Apparently three mom influencers basically took the idea to Stanley because every time they recommended them, they’d sell out.
posted by fedward at 5:18 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

As to 40 oz. cups… On the news the other day, here in the Bay Area, they announced that Starbucks will allow you to bring in your own cup, up to 40 oz. in size, and purchase coffee. At that time, I wondered if this meant you could get a huge, cholesterol and sugar laden drink for the same price as their size cup. With this news, the conspiracy widens…
posted by njohnson23 at 5:40 PM on January 6

A lot of nail polish still emits VOCs (oh the smell) even with the lids tightly closed.

Signed, the person who thought it would be cool to have one bottle in each color of the resistor marking code system and make tiny color bars on reading glasses to indicate their diopter strength, and thought that system might be good for something else someday, and has to keep all those bottles of nail polish inside a second air-tight container but can't find the right container.
posted by amtho at 5:45 PM on January 6 [9 favorites]

I'm gen X and I can honestly say that for the first... 2/3 of my existence on this planet I did not drink water in a meaningful way. Soda yes, milk with lunch, maybe a glass of water with dinner. Now I have a 1 litre Nalgene full of tap water that I guzzle 1-2 time a day. All this to say: if this trend gets people hydrated GREAT. That's a positive. There are worse things to influencer than a vessel to hold liquids.
posted by monkeymike at 5:55 PM on January 6 [7 favorites]

Hydration, yes, but it's the trendy consumer-ness that I hate. These are the same people who bought Nalgene bottles, then Yeti tumblers, now they have 15 Stanleys, and soon they'll discard those for the next trendy cup. It's a MF cup, for crying out loud. If you like it, use it. Don't discard it just because it's no longer trendy. It's all just another piece of evidence of our fast-fashion throw-away society.
posted by hydra77 at 6:02 PM on January 6 [7 favorites]

Unless I am out hiking or biking, I'm rarely more than a few minutes away from being able to access water or other beverages, so I personally don't feel the need to cart around a jug of water everywhere I go. But most of my coworkers do, and it can be fascinating to watch. The trendy container where I work is stainless steel, either bare or powder-coated, always with stickers from niche breweries or outdoor gear companies on it.

I have a couple of very nice Yeti insulated cups (the smaller sizes that hold a small/medium cup of coffee) that I got from work that I very rarely use. For drinking coffee and tea at home, I prefer ceramic mugs, but the insulated ones are nice for taking in the car.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:18 PM on January 6 [4 favorites]

The Stanley Steamer five gallon tankard of raspberry, Coco-anango and lime with faux bone handle and chrome inlay.
posted by clavdivs at 6:25 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]

I thought using Nalgene flasks for travel was just an earlier trend/fad.

It was a trend. But they last so long and work so well, now they are just a smart choice. They cost about $10-20, and my last one lasted for about 12 years before I broke the connector and then lost the top.
posted by jb at 6:28 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

But the best insulated mug is the Contigo Autoseal. Forget to close it and leave it on the table where your toddler can access it? No problem! It's closed itself. Knock it over on your desk at least three times a week? No problem!

I love this thing.
posted by jb at 6:30 PM on January 6 [7 favorites]

You can buy replacement Nalgene caps, but when I needed one REI didn’t have any in black and the white cap still looks weird on my OG Nalgene.

Years ago I switched to the 500ml size Nalgene, though, because while I like the easy count of how many times I’ve filled it during the day, I didn’t enjoy carrying a kilogram weight when the 1 liter bottle was full. And I’m never far from a place I can refill it. My wife became a convert to the half size bottle, and now we own five of them. But we don’t match our outfits.
posted by fedward at 6:36 PM on January 6 [4 favorites]

zojirushi 4 lyfe

As much as I love my Contigo, I recognize that Zojirushi are amazing. They are so insulating that I have problems drinking tea from them because it just doesn't cool down enough to drink. And they lock very well. But I don't like the mouth feel as much, and they don't autoseal.

But if you like piping hot tea, Zojirushi is for you.
posted by jb at 6:39 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

Ok just heard about it this week (where, as a Canadian when I heard the Stanley cup was causing a lineup at Target nearly lost my shit! Until the other braincell fired…) but looking at a picture… I get it. They are CUTE.

Listen. Nalgenes are fugly (sorry) and scream 90s / backpacker
Mason jar? Sorry. Had its time. Not comfortable to drink out of.

My only other choice is the brushed silver one I got from the dentist. Also fugly.

These Stanleys are cute and yes I’m the demographic but I get it.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:42 PM on January 6 [4 favorites]

If you really want to be floored by the craziness and wastefulness of capitalism and greed, look into the Amazon Vine program. "Members" around the world are able to have 330 to 1000s of dollars (depending on what tier they're in) worth of product sent to them daily and free of charge, to keep, in exchange for reviews.

The thousands of items they get to choose from changes every single day.

I know someone who's been a "member" for about a month who has received more than 100 items already — rice cookers, karaoke machines, cycling gear, phones and phone chargers, external monitors, floor lamps, clothing, cosmetics, pet supplies, supplements, power tools, cameras... it's crazy.

And it's every single day!
posted by dobbs at 6:59 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

>zojirushi 4 lyfe

hey you're harshing my hipster vibe here
posted by torokunai at 7:08 PM on January 6

I feel awful for the employees who have to deal with the craven assholes who are going apeshit over this meaningless promotion.
posted by Ferreous at 7:37 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

This annoys me deeply.

Buying an insulated drink bottle (singular, let alone plural) to replace the perfectly good insulated drink bottle you already own because ‘different colours! TikTok! Cute! Trending!’ is the opposite of ‘sustainable’.

We are supposed to ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’ in that order. No wonder our planet is fucked, when people are this easily influenced.

And no, it’s not about something being female-coded. I am female, and I like pretty things as much as the next person. I just don’t kid myself that buying multiple versions of the same thing is remotely environmentally-friendly, just because that thing is reusable.

Signed: the GenX fun police. Xx
posted by Salamander at 7:40 PM on January 6 [12 favorites]

I’m still using a 10-plus-year-old green Nalgene bottle with a broken cap strap because it still works. I finally got a new one in purple last year, but I find myself still refilling the old one.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:48 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

The problem I would have with Nalgene is that they can’t be heat sterilized, and using Oxybrite or hydrogen peroxide, I’d be worried about degrading and pulling something out of the plastic.
posted by jamjam at 7:56 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

scruss: For me, it's bench planes

If teenagers are freaking out about getting $400 Lie Nielsen planes next year and walking around school like they're woodworkers, I'll blame you.
posted by clawsoon at 8:13 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]

I work on a college campus and every year a different brand of thermal beverage holder becomes the latest IN drinking vessel. I hadn't realized it had become a Starbucks branded Stanley thermos this year, but I'm also not too very surprised. It's telling to me, though that not a lot of folks on this forum have spent much time in the blue collar world because Stanley Thermos's have always been a thing. Though usually they looked more like this or this. Of course, back in my blue collar days they didn't have the spiffy new logo.
posted by evilDoug at 8:46 PM on January 6 [6 favorites]

Yes evilDoug!

That exact thermos is what I associate Stanley with. I have a big one and a little one and use them every day for tea.

I was given them as "club together" gifts from my siblings because they are EXPENSIVE over here.
posted by Zumbador at 8:57 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

I got a 500 ml japanese thermos-like at a Daiso years ago for a few bucks. Still don't need anything else. Simple cylinder with a screw-on top. I like that when you take the top off it's a wide mouth, so you can drink right from it. The most important thing is it doesn't leak in my bag.

That's it. Insulated cup needs, fulfilled for the foreseeable future.
posted by ctmf at 9:33 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

for people who want a bucket that fits in their SUV's cupholder.

me, with one kidney, in a Honda Civic, driving across the Great Plains with my 40oz Albor tumbler: sips tea

sips again

still sipping

still
posted by McBearclaw at 10:22 PM on January 6 [9 favorites]

Coincidentally, I got one of the giant, trendy Stanley tumblers with the straw as holiday swag this year. It's nice and all, but I have no idea what to do with it. It's too huge to carry around and it's way more than I would normally drink in a day. It seems well made and everything.

When I work out I use a regular bike water bottle, which I might finish on a hot day.

When I'm working I'll keep a regular sized cup of cold water for times when I do a lot of talking in meetings. I might go through two, maybe three of those in a day.

I just don't get what these giant mugs are for. Maybe they'd be good with iced tea if you lived in the South or Arizona or something and you spent a lot of times outdoors? And you stayed in one place most of the time? I dunno.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 10:25 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

Can't wait to try one when they start hitting the goodwills hard.
I have two goodwill Nalgenes, which were unused branded promotional materials (one had a branded pop-socket inside!), both from big industrial manufacturers. I also have a great 1.2L wide mouth thermos that fits a full chemex plus half and half.
There's usually an excellent selection of water bottles, insulated and not.

Also evilDoug have you ever seen the lunchbox that went with those stanleys?
posted by shenkerism at 10:50 PM on January 6 [7 favorites]

Listen. Nalgenes are fugly (sorry) and scream 90s / backpacker

From what I can tell, living in a college town, this is a very desirable aesthetic!! And, being from the 90s myself, I do still enjoy a Nalgene. But the plastic is not ideal, which imho is the only thing keeping the Nalgene brand from attaining this level of covetability.
posted by knotty knots at 11:12 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

One for water and one for a fun beverage

That’s a euphemism for booze, right? This seems like a great trend for people who drink at work.
posted by atoxyl at 11:19 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]

The marketing guru Seth Godin defines "culture" as "People like us do things like this"

Hipster is only a "culture" in the sense of "culture" as "a mould which grows on otherwise healthy organisms".
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:27 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

Incidentally, it makes me feel very old that we're this far into the thread and still nobody has said anything about any fine mess that anything might have got anybody into.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:31 AM on January 7 [6 favorites]

There are people who have been advised to drink an ungodly amount of water - like a couple liters daily


I'm gen X and I can honestly say that for the first... 2/3 of my existence on this planet I did not drink water in a meaningful way. Soda yes, milk with lunch, maybe a glass of water with dinner.

Okay, so this is something I run into a lot and have never gotten a full explanation of... this idea that before like, what, the 2000s, people, just lived their lives constantly dehydrated? It must have been so miserable. I consider myself to be running out of water if I have less than 500mls handy. Like, the space race becomes significantly more impressive than it already was if I imagine that everyone was functionally hungover and dehydrated all the time.

From the government: Drinking water and your health.

As a general rule:

males need about 10 cups (2.6 litres or 2600mL) of fluids every day
females need about 8 cups (2.1 litres or 2100mL) of fluids a day — add another cup a day if you're pregnant or breastfeeding
children need about 4 to 5 cups of fluids a day
teenagers need 6 to 8 cups of fluids a day

More if it's hot or humid, if you're spending a bunch of time outside... One Stanley cup of water and maybe a fruit juice and a coffee and some people would still be under quota. I'm personally strict and don't think the coffee really counts, especially if caffeine makes you sweat. Alcohol counts negative, you need a glass of water for every beer just to stay stable.

I read books and watch old movies and they drink whiskey and coffee and eat bacon and go to sleep and I feel like I would feel tortured, I'd be so dry. What must it have done to everyone's skin???

I think a lot of all this is ridiculous but water is important and a nice big cup is handy, that much I agree with.
posted by Audreynachrome at 1:22 AM on January 7 [8 favorites]

Do the watertok women really get into the subject of sexual orientation?

One of the fascinating things about Tiktok is that because the algorithm is so effective, audiences are siloed by interests. This means that different types of people rarely see the same videos. The divisions break down when a trend goes really viral but this doesn't happen that frequently.

After a few years of different types of people seeing different types of videos, there's been enough cultural drift between different interest groups that you can you can usually tell really fast if a video has been made by someone who isn't interacting with queer content.
posted by zymil at 1:31 AM on January 7 [4 favorites]

This post confused the hell out of me. I guess I must be out of touch, but when did 'tumbler' stop meaning whisky glass and start referring to thermos flasks?
posted by Dysk at 1:58 AM on January 7 [10 favorites]

Hmm, I thought using Nalgene flasks for travel was just an earlier trend/fad. They started out as labware flasks.

And there's Nalgene's heavy(ier) metal brother, the spun aluminum SIGG flask or bottle, which I first knew as a fuel canister turned into a water bottle, but they may have been doing both this whole time.

Which also probably inspired the Kleen Kanteen bottles and system which tend to use stainless steel instead of aluminum like the SIGG bottles.

I personally hoard and collect both styles of bottles because they fit very nicely in bike water bottle cages and I have them in a lot of different sizes ranging from the 32 oz on down to about 4 ounces, including a couple that are actually used as stove fuel bottles as originally intended.

They also all handily take a carabiner for clipping them to a bag or pack even my belt loops or whatever for hands free carrying, and I keep a little mini-biner on my keychain just for this purpose for whenever I'm not on a bike.

Both Kleen Kanteens and Sigg branded bottles can get rather expensive, in the 25-40 USD range for like a 20-24ish oz uninsulated steel Kleen Kanteen with the basic plastic lid, but I don't think I've ever bought one brand new. I tend to find them for a couple of bucks at thrift stores or end up with them as freebies when someone moves or whatever, and a lot of the ones I have are just cheap SIGG or Kleen Kanteen knockoffs

I prefer these to Nalgene because I like the durability and lack of plastic of metal and they fit easier in most bike bottle cages, plus most of the steel ones I have can be used directly over fire or flame for heating water because they're entirely uncoated and don't have BPA liners.

They also take a heavy scouring with steel wool or even sand a lot better than a Nalgene. One backpacker or dirtbag trick to clean out some of these outdoors/camping adjacent flasks is to fill it partially with sand and rocks, some hot water and maybe a bit of Dr. Bronner's and shake it like a maraca in a samba drumline until it's polished and clean inside again. Try that with a Nalgene and you're just going to get microplastics in your water and scour it till it looks like frosted glass.

Also, one of my recent first world trials and tribulations was finding a bottle brush that doesn't suck and isn't made entirely out of plastic or isn't some weirdly ergonomic handle that just doesn't fit inside either the narrow neck SIGG style bottles or even really work in a wider-mouth Kleen Kanteen style bottle.

And they practically last forever. I have a really beat up 32 oz Kleen Kanteen that used to belong to a close friend, and he's had it since the mid/late 90s that's been to so many campouts, raves and outdoor parties it could tell stories. I think this one in particular has even been to Burning Man a couple of times.

It's still mostly bottle-shaped but the base has been dented from being dropped while full and then bashed back into place it looks like some kind of art project or artifact. it also has some stickers on it that are old enough to vote, including a really cool hipster record store that ceased to exist maybe 10-15 years ago, and every so often someone recognizes the sticker and goes "Woaaah, cool!"

I've nearly lost it a dozen times and managed to find it again, including one time on the bus in Seattle where I left it on one route and managed to get back on the same exact bus with the same driver several hours later on a completely different route and someone was nice enough to turn it into the driver, and he had stashed it up on his dashboard against the front window and I said something like "Hey, cool! That's mine!" and yoinked it back into my possession. I've also lost it at large music festivals and found it much later where I left it a few times.

I love these little metal bottles and flasks. There's almost always one on my desk or in reach of my bed. There's usually 2-3 of them on my bike. I almost always, always have one on me if I'm out and about or running errands. About the only time I don't have one is if I'm going to a concert where I know for sure that they're not going to let me in with my own bottle, and even then I can usually talk my way in with one if I empty it first.

I can't even remember the last time I bought bottled water. It might have been about a year ago an it was just because I wanted extra water for a group bike ride because I had brought my camp stove to make hot tea, coffee and cocoa for other people and I forgot to fill up more flasks to carry on my bike and in my pannier bags.

Anyway, I've been randomly complimented by younger Gen Z folks on my water bottle game lately and this Stanley fad might help explain that.
posted by loquacious at 2:27 AM on January 7 [11 favorites]

Okay, so this is something I run into a lot and have never gotten a full explanation of... this idea that before like, what, the 2000s, people, just lived their lives constantly dehydrated?

I dunno. I guess I’m still in that mindset. Unless I am on a long hike or doing some outdoor activity I don’t carry around water. I just drink a glass of water or whatever when I get home. At work I make myself the occasional cup of tea. I don’t personally understand the fixation with staying “hydrated”, medical reason excepted. I can’t say I ever feel dehydrated. If I’m thirsty, I drink.
posted by fimbulvetr at 5:37 AM on January 7 [11 favorites]

I don't have a Stanley, but I do have a Yeti (hand-me-down from my daughter). I'll admit it's really, really good at keeping drinks cold for a disturbingly long time. But otherwise, it holds no significance for me than any other drink holder. But I'm an Old, so that's to be expected.
posted by tommasz at 6:00 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

Oh, THIS is what group of cool but fundamentally basic moms from my daughter's school were talking about at the swim meet. I grew up in Michigan and played hockey on ponds back when there was such a thing as winter, and I was like how did these Georgia Peaches get interested in hockey, and then I gradually sorted out it was something else but couldn't figure out what. Thanks.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 6:06 AM on January 7 [5 favorites]

You want to talk crazy travel mugs, I got this one. It's green just like a classic Stanley, but look at the logo. It's a Thermos! I didn't even know that was allowed!
posted by riruro at 6:19 AM on January 7 [2 favorites]

Okay, so this is something I run into a lot and have never gotten a full explanation of... this idea that before like, what, the 2000s, people, just lived their lives constantly dehydrated?

I think the truth is in the middle…I think right now there is an obsession with staying hydrated that goes beyond physical needs, which vary depending on whether you’re drinking, how dry it is, temperature, sweating, etc.

But as a GenXer who definitely had long periods of being thirsty as a kid (we did use neighbours’ hoses at times), it was a revelation when I had a really bad cluster of migraines and started actively tracking water intake for a bit. It makes a big difference to headaches and that sort of end of day fatigue.

Buying an insulated drink bottle (singular, let alone plural) to replace the perfectly good insulated drink bottle you already own because ‘different colours! TikTok! Cute! Trending!’ is the opposite of ‘sustainable’.

I think we are all aware of that, but I don’t personally think being cranky about it on an individual level is the answer. Status purchasing is complex, especially for younger women or stay at home moms, both groups of whom are a) incredibly targeted by marketers, b) not incorrect in perceiving that they are being judged constantly at multiple angles, and c) continually judged on their consumption or non-consumption - you can’t win whether you’re using a mason jar and your kids are in polyester pants from grandma’s closet or the latest fast fashion and bearing a Target Red. Influencer culture is based on consumption in a big way, but I blame the top, not the bottom.

I could write an essay on parenting, anxiety, and buying and how it relates to influencer culture, but will stop there.

The “whiskey tumbler” reference above made me laugh because that’s what came to mind for me for “what is a male-coded equivalent to these bottles?”
posted by warriorqueen at 6:45 AM on January 7 [5 favorites]

Okay, so this is something I run into a lot and have never gotten a full explanation of... this idea that before like, what, the 2000s, people, just lived their lives constantly dehydrated?

There were these things called water fountains, which were in schools and that you drank out of during the day. I grew up with them and never thought twice about stopping for a drink whenever I felt the need.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:43 AM on January 7 [18 favorites]

One for water and one for a fun beverage

That’s a euphemism for booze, right? This seems like a great trend for people who drink at work.

I have a coworker who uses a metal 32oz growler, branded by a brewery, as his water bottle. It's full of water, but it makes him look like he is suckling an IPA all day.

Okay, so this is something I run into a lot and have never gotten a full explanation of... this idea that before like, what, the 2000s, people, just lived their lives constantly dehydrated?

This attitude/believe seems so strange to me. Yes, people didn't typically carry around jugs of water during the day. But, if you were living in a developed country, you were generally never far from potable water. Schools have water fountains available between classes, plus drinks at lunch (and, the middle/high schools I went to all had soda machines). If you were out in the neighborhood playing with friends, there was water at every house, both from the hose outside and also by shuffling in and being handed glasses of water or juice/koolaid by someone's parent. No one was running around with blackened tongues and severe dehydration.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:51 AM on January 7 [3 favorites]

Cities had public potable water fountains. Seattle still does, here and there.

Also, three seated meals a day with a big glass of water each, and a carafe of water by your bed used to be normal.
posted by clew at 9:13 AM on January 7

“what is a male-coded equivalent to these bottles?”

A lot of everyday carry stuff (best pocket knives of 2024, best multi-tool, etc.), sneakers (though most makers are also leaning into the women's market), baseball caps...
posted by box at 9:26 AM on January 7 [4 favorites]

That’s a euphemism for booze, right?

In TikTok parlance, a fun drink is like a fancy tea, or a smoothie.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:48 AM on January 7 [5 favorites]

No one was running around with blackened tongues and severe dehydration.

From that point of view you can see the rise of the water bottle in line with the way public facilities are disappearing (although the fill station and pre-Covid even the fountain was still around some in my city) and people having to substitute.

Buuut…I still remember getting thirsty on the way home or while out quite a lot. Our teachers didn’t always allow us to get drinks except at recess, and bullied sometimes made that unpleasant. My mum’s OCD prevented us from using some public facilities. And I think I did adjust to ignoring thirst enough that when I started having issues, the change in hydration was clear.
posted by warriorqueen at 10:04 AM on January 7 [3 favorites]

That’s a euphemism for booze, right?

It is not, cf. all the mentions of WaterTok above, and, previously, 'Dirty' Soda (of note: that FPP is centered on an NYT trend piece from December 2021; The Washington Post food section didn't get around to it until May 2022). Mormons are way overrepresented in the Online Mom Influencer world for multiple reasons, and (as was discussed in the 'Dirty' Soda thread) Mormons tend to get way into "wholesome" treats. When we visited our friends in Salt Lake City, they warned us that we'd get dehydrated without realizing it due to altitude and desert air, so I can see how carrying a giant insulated tumbler full of something like that would check both the "wholesome treat" and "coping with living in the desert" boxes.

And leaving the weird Mormon influence aside, when I lived in Oklahoma I had a couple quart-sized insulated mugs from QT that I generally filled every day I left the house. It was hot, I was always thirsty, QT was everywhere, and a Koolee was cheap. (The machines always broke down, and QT couldn't trademark the "Koolee" name because another business in another state also used it, so when they made a big push into multi-state expansion they bought different machines and trademarked the horrible name "Freezoni." If you're from Tulsa you probably still call them Koolees, though. The new machines are more reliable, but I still miss the old days).
posted by fedward at 10:31 AM on January 7 [3 favorites]

No one was running around with blackened tongues and severe dehydration.

Based on how much water I drink on a normal day, I think there's a fair chance I was, in fact, always at least a little dehydrated as a kid. There were mostly-functional water fountains in school, but not every fountain worked, and sometimes you didn't have enough time between classes to drink enough water. I wouldn't say I was severely dehydrated as a general rule, but I certainly drink more than five sips of water per hour when my access isn't limited.

I'd be curious about the prevalence of health problems that correlate with inadequate fluid intake, and whether they have changed since carrying a water bottle has become more normalized. Like, are kidney stones less common among people who carry water bottles all the time?
posted by fedward at 11:09 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

previously, 'Dirty' Soda

see that’s another term that is suggestive of something rather different to non-Mormons
posted by atoxyl at 11:10 AM on January 7 [2 favorites]

anyway I was joking, the image of going about the day with two big, conveniently opaque cups with straws, one for water, one for not water just… reminded me of someone
posted by atoxyl at 11:27 AM on January 7

Scalping, or however you want to define this, is the product of poverty. We fix issues like this by lifting people out of poverty so they don't have to scuffle for a limited edition cup in hopes of reselling it for profit. The existence of side hustles is a condemnation of Capitalism.
posted by sotonohito at 11:38 AM on January 7 [3 favorites]

I'm personally strict and don't think the coffee really counts

Mayo Clinic:

... beverages such as milk, juice and herbal teas are composed mostly of water. Even caffeinated drinks - such as coffee and soda - can contribute to your daily water intake.

Your fluid intake is probably adequate if:
- You rarely feel thirsty
- Your urine is colorless or light yellow

posted by Greg_Ace at 12:04 PM on January 7 [6 favorites]

Well, I've achieved this state of colorless urine and you've really got to be chugging that water to get there, such that every half-hour or so I'm generating more of that colorless urine. Which reminds me of the other extreme, having just flown back and forth across the ocean: who are you, my fellow passengers, that can just flop into a window seat and remain inert there for five hours? I gotta pee at least every couple of hours, but I'm noticing some of you are able to go into a kind of airborne stasis, can't fathom it.
posted by Rash at 12:57 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]

I remember very clearly that we were not to have anything but books or notes on our desks up thru high school - this was well into the 90s. This meant no drinks in class & less on demand sipping. Just quick stops between classes.
Once we hit college the personal beverage device became more ubiquitous, allowed, and literally growing in classrooms, especially for the sorority types.
This was at the same time that the personal beverage device was being transformed from something rationally under 24 oz. and ballooned to 64 oz Koo-Zie-Quart abominations across the great plains of America available at every convenience store and K-Mart.

Throw it all in a giant USA themed crok-pot and simmer for 30 years - we have the situation we now see presented.
posted by djseafood at 1:31 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]

who are you, my fellow passengers, that can just flop into a window seat and remain inert there for five hours? I gotta pee at least every couple of hours, but I'm noticing some of you are able to go into a kind of airborne stasis, can't fathom it.

I took a 10 hour road trip with someone once, across three states, and they didn't go to the bathroom even once on the drive. And they drank coffee!
posted by Dip Flash at 2:18 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]

who are you, my fellow passengers, that can just flop into a window seat and remain inert there for five hours? I gotta pee at least every couple of hours, but I'm noticing some of you are able to go into a kind of airborne stasis, can't fathom it.

seriously. I'm out here carefully calibrating the ideal fluid intake to avoid a dehydration-induced migraine without needing to pee that often, while also trying really hard not to go to the bathroom more than once or twice on a long flight and thereby courting a UTI by holding it way too long. Plus it doesn't help that at around hour eight of a transatlantic flight, I become incredibly thirsty.

No one was running around with blackened tongues and severe dehydration.

I mean, no, but water fountains were a pain in the ass. A lot of them had shitty water pressure/flow, so you'd have to lean down and practically suckle on the thing, and then some of them had too much pressure and would blast you in the face, and it's frankly just not a particularly comfortable or convenient way to drink. Plus there's the timing issue: how long is it going to take to chug however many ounces from a water fountain? Do you have the time in between classes? Or maybe more pressingly for a kid, do you have the patience for more than a few gulps? It's way easier to just regularly sip from a water bottle that's in easy reach.

In retrospect, I was absolutely often dehydrated as a kid, or at least, I wasn't drinking enough water judging by how often I was painfully constipated, and then later on as a teen, how often I got dehydration-related headaches/migraines. Ubiquitous water bottle times have been great for me, health-wise. It's just much easier to ensure and keep track of being adequately hydrated when I can carry the water bottle around and know that I need to at absolute minimum drink the whole thing at least once a day, or else end up facing Consequences.

All that said, I'm not going to fuss about the bottle itself. I stick with the couple of stainless steel bottles I have (one bigger, one smaller), until I lose them or bang them up enough that they no longer stand flat. The it bottle when I was in college was the Kleen Kanteen, and I did in fact religiously use mine until I lost one and battered another enough that it wouldn't stand upright. Now I'm using one big stainless steel insulated bottle that I got as a bday gift, and another smaller one that I use when I don't want to or don't have room for the bigger one.
posted by yasaman at 4:36 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]

So. I've been a Kleen Kanteen stan for about 15 years now; they're still my favorite brand of Portable Liquid Carrier.

Late last year, I won a Yeti at a tech fair. I took it home, washed it, and then read the directions. They invited me to register the serial number of the Yeti cup.

Register.
Online.
The Serial Number.
Of a cup.

So, despite me feeling how ridiculous it is, I did so - and now, I got sent a bunch of Yeti stickers that I'm not gonna put on anything because IT'S A CUP. I mean - it's a great cup and all, but whenever I have to go anywhere? I grab one of my Kleen Kanteens. Because those have screw tops that screw tight. I can throw it in my backpack with no fear of it leaking.
posted by spinifex23 at 7:22 PM on January 7

who are you, my fellow passengers, that can just flop into a window seat and remain inert there for five hours? I gotta pee at least every couple of hours, but I'm noticing some of you are able to go into a kind of airborne stasis, can't fathom it.

*raises hand* Yeah, so, I used to call this my super power because I have spent a lot of time traveling in very rural developing countryside where I don’t speak the language and bus doesn’t really stop and if it does you have to find a place to squat on the side of the road but you’re wearing pants unlike the local women. To a small degree I also know not to drink a lot before long travel. But I think being raised Gen-X definitely trained me for it. I literally don’t remember drinking water. We didn’t at home at all. Juice or “juice” and some pop (I refused to drink milk unless it was chocolate milk). My parents had either coffee or wine. The only time you drank water was if you had to take medicine. It’s so weird looking back.

So it the past few years I’ve realized it’s not a superpower, it’s a sign that I’m super dehydrated. It’s tough to reprogram yourself. I have been doing a lot of international flights the past year and the last few I would arrive and realize I only had one pop the entire flight and didn’t go to the bathroom at all.

I am given a lot of company swag since I work corporate events and my favorite is a camelback because of the straw. The chewy straw means I drink a lot of water. I have a Sigg and klean kanteens and some other ones (I try to refuse them now because I don’t want more swag). I need an alternate to the camelback since I can’t use a bottle with a clients’ competitor’s logo on it, but I am also trying to get less plastic in my life. I agree that Owala will be big if it isn’t already, it’s popping up everywhere. I tried to buy a color drop 1.5 years ago but it sold out immediately and that planned scarcity pissed me off so I haven’t bought one yet but, but, but they are such nice colors,
posted by Bunglegirl at 7:48 PM on January 7

They invited me to register the serial number of the Yeti cup.

As far as I can tell, registering any product whatsoever (other than, possibly, software) is utterly pointless and nothing more than an indication of your willingness to be subjected to further advertising.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:15 PM on January 7 [5 favorites]

It was a fun moment over the holidays this year when my dad, a retired coal miner who has been using a Stanley thermos for decades, was lamenting that the cap on his 20-year-old Stanley travel cup had broken and that he couldn't find a replacement. It was like bizarro-land when my teenage daughters had to explain to him that the brand was now the most desirable fashion accessory. Sadly, Dad's useful, modestly-sized cup lid is no longer available. This reminds me of when I was in college in the late 90s and he discovered that historic outdoors apparel supplier Abercrombie & Fitch now sold wildly overpriced and trendy ripped jeans and flannel shirts.
posted by hessie at 5:30 AM on January 8 [3 favorites]

One of the fascinating things about Tiktok is that because the algorithm is so effective, audiences are siloed by interests. This means that different types of people rarely see the same videos.

This is common across all private-corporate social media platforms. What it also means is that, because each user is fed different content, it is impossible for a group of users to discuss any subject objectively.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:14 AM on January 8 [1 favorite]

I have a Yeti mug. I got it in Austin, Tx. I like it. It does its job really well. But it's a mug. At no point do I expect it to die on a cross and rise on the third day to free me from my sins.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:16 AM on January 8 [2 favorites]

That's just what I'd expect to read from a member of the Yetian People's Front
posted by phunniemee at 6:21 AM on January 8 [4 favorites]

who are you, my fellow passengers, that can just flop into a window seat and remain inert there for five hours?

I favour the window seat. The number of times I get up to pee during a flight is proportional to the number of seconds after take-off that the millennial sitting next to me continues using their phone without switching it to flight mode.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:22 AM on January 8

who are you, my fellow passengers, that can just flop into a window seat and remain inert there for five hours?

I secretly pee into a Stanley cup. It even comes with a straw/catheter line. And everything stays warm and fresh, judging by the look on the face of the guy sitting next to me who grabbed the wrong cup on the way off the plane.
posted by pracowity at 8:38 AM on January 8 [5 favorites]

the millennial sitting next to me continues using their phone without switching it to flight mode.

I can't imagine why new, younger users aren't engaging with this site, with conversations this inviting.

(I'm a 50-something X-er and I never put my phone on flight mode, I will check texts mid-flight if I happen to get a signal. The plane will not crash and if it bothers some uptight jerk in the window seat next to me, that's just a bonus.)

Re: Stanley cups, I like that this small thing brings people joy, even if some go over the top about it.
posted by LooseFilter at 9:17 AM on January 8 [6 favorites]

Well, I am a 50-something Gen-x'er who always puts things in flight mode because honestly, no one is so important that they can't wait until they land, and anyone who thinks otherwise has a bit of an inflated ego, I have found. And I think it's likely more the "yay I piss off the upright" attitude who may be driving people.off the site, while I am at it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:21 AM on January 8 [2 favorites]

This is a great example of 1st worlders who have apparently not just cimbed to the top of Maslow's Pyramid but paraglided back down and climbed it again backwards and in heels, so now they have no recourse but to define themselves by their choice of beverage containers.
I'm happy for them.
posted by signal at 10:32 AM on January 8

The Great Silent Majority of American Basicness (not crazy about the title, but) a pretty good take on Stanley Cups, Tiktok, and the 2020s internet.
posted by box at 2:18 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]

Haven’t they switched to telling you just to turn off your device during takeoff and landing, anyway? You’re allowed to check texts “mid-flight”, it’s more pro-social to follow the instructions during critical times in the flight, it doesn’t realistically matter very much if you forget, and being full of people arguing back forth about this kind of shit in general is not an appealing feature of Metafilter, if we’re taking a poll.
posted by atoxyl at 2:52 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]

Haven’t they switched to telling you just to turn off your device during takeoff and landing, anyway?

Every flight I've been on recently has just said to put things in airplane mode for the duration. Maybe it varies by airline?
posted by Dip Flash at 3:47 PM on January 8

The number of times I get up to pee during a flight is proportional to the number of seconds after take-off that the millennial sitting next to me continues using their phone without switching it to flight mode.

Or you could just tell the flight attendant, who is a professional trained to handle people on planes.

Like why is it your job to police someone else's behavior? Let the professionals do it or leave it alone. If it was that serious of a problem, the flight attendants would check it like they check seatbelts and chairs-being-upright.
posted by LizBoBiz at 5:37 PM on January 8

I think I’m wrong/conflating things/oversimplifying an ambiguous thing. It’s now pretty common to have wi-fi in flight at cruising altitude, which would seem to invite using devices with wi-fi enabled, which I think of as not pure “airplane mode” (all radios disabled). But they would likely prefer that you still leave cell transmission disabled.
posted by atoxyl at 5:50 PM on January 8

First thing that comes to mind when I hear Stanley is Zbornak
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:03 PM on January 8 [2 favorites]

As far as I can tell, registering any product whatsoever (other than, possibly, software) is utterly pointless and nothing more than an indication of your willingness to be subjected to further advertising.

Counterpoint: yay, free stickers!
posted by slogger at 9:58 AM on January 9 [1 favorite]

As far as I can tell, registering any product whatsoever (other than, possibly, software) is utterly pointless and nothing more than an indication of your willingness to be subjected to further advertising.

I did it for the novelty's sake. And the stickers. I'm not deep. I am easily amused by stickers.

(I also don't mind the Yeti adverts; they are good quality products.)
posted by spinifex23 at 7:29 PM on January 9

Some people live very different lives from mine.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:01 PM on January 9 [2 favorites]

And that is what makes being a human on this planet great!
posted by spinifex23 at 10:22 PM on January 9

That Garbage Day post linked by box above is indeed better than its title:

My reference point for this kind of marketing is the Myspace era of music and fashion, when record companies and stores like Hot Topic and Spencer’s Gifts were using early social media to identify niche fandoms and convert them into mainstream hits. In this allegory, Target has become the Hot Topic of white women with disposable income. And their fingerless gloves and zipper pants are fun water bottles and that one perfume everyone in Manhattan is wearing right now.

Vox has now come out with 40 ounces of explainer, as well.

As aesthetically pleasing as a trend of color-coordinated Stanleys sitting on a shelf can be, they’re not saving the environment if they’re not being reused over and over. “It’s great that people are passionate about reusables and are spreading the word about their benefits,” Habesland wrote to me. “At the same time, overconsumption is also a problem, so for the lowest environmental impact, it’s best to reuse what you already have or purchase just what you need.”

But Stanley isn’t really into selling people what they need, though. If it were, one reusable indestructible water bottle with a lifetime warranty should be enough.

posted by fedward at 3:25 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]

From The 19th: The Stanley craze: How a reusable cup became the latest symbol of overconsumption

“ The Stanley phenomenon started when a group of women behind the Buy Guide, a website and accompanying Instagram account that promote and sell products geared toward women and moms, discovered the cup in 2017. .. After the cups kept selling out on their website, the Buy Guide founders — Ashlee LeSueur, Taylor Cannon, and Linley Hutchinson — were invited to meet with an executive of Stanley’s parent company, Pacific Market International, and they explained how the world of social media marketing worked.”
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:21 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

Project Farm weighs in with comprehensive testing of comparables, if you're in it 100% for practical purposes.
posted by clawsoon at 2:00 PM on January 14 [3 favorites]

clawsoon: “Project Farm weighs in”

Ha! I came in here to post that link. Todd does great work.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:51 PM on January 14

Food & Wine also wants in on those sweet Stanley clicks.
posted by box at 3:21 PM on January 14

Odds of this somehow destroying the original Stanley business?
posted by clew at 5:18 PM on January 15

I never noticed these before this post, but now that I know they exist I see them everywhere. I think every staff member under age 30 in my workplace, both men and women, has some model of Stanley on their desk.
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:25 PM on January 16

These have even become the focus of an SNL sketch.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:14 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]

and now people are worried about lead in their stanley cups.
posted by i used to be someone else at 8:10 AM on January 29