Current:Home > Invest$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American. -NextFrontier Capital
$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American.
View
Date:2025-04-28 02:12:06
Who knew pink and red drinking vessels could cause so much commotion?
We all did.
The Starbucks x Stanley Quencher is far from the first product to cause retail madness, and it won't be the last.
That's why shaking your head that people were willing to swarm Target for the limited-edition cup may say more about you than the people willing to battle it out for the cup that retailed for $50 and is now reselling for $300 and more on eBay.
Judging other people's spending is not reserved for cup buyers.
Some shook their heads at Taylor Swift and Beyoncé fans who were willing to pay big bucks to see the Eras and Renaissance tours.
Some of those same people will shell out top dollar for Super Bowl tickets or an Apple Watch.
Apple Watch wasn't built for dark skin.We deserve tech that works for everyone.
Galentine's Day Stanley quencher is not our first rodeo
Long before the tumbler was a twinkle in its creator's eye, I was a little girl who really, really wanted a squashed face doll with yarn hair and big thumbs.
For weeks before Christmas 1983, I remember lying on our living room floor and circling Toys R Us ads for Cabbage Patch Kids that came with my hometown newspaper.
I could only hope my mother or/and Santa would get the hint.
My mom did. She scraped up enough money and fended off ravenous Cabbage Patch Kids seekers to purchase an official doll for me.
I still have and cherish it.
It is far less violent, but scenes of frenzied shoppers trying to buy the Stanley cup – the result of a limited Target and Starbucks collaboration – are reminiscent of the Cabbage Patch riots of fall and winter 1983.
Not sure if anyone lucky enough to get their hand on a Stanley tumbler will cherish it 41 years later, but maybe I am wrong.
It is clear many people really, really wanted the tumbler for themselves – not their kid as was the case with my mother and the rabid parents she encountered (for the record, my mom got my doll fair and square while avoiding the riots).
Still, the so-called Galentine's Day tumblers would make wonderful Valentine's Day gifts for water lovers – hint, hint.
Are the limited-edition Stanley cups still available?
Good luck finding one and paying for it. According to the company's website, they are out of stock at many Target stores.
A representative for Starbucks told People magazine that the cups will "not be restocked" where they have sold out.
What do the Stanley cup, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl have in common?
As with the Cabbage Patch Kids doll craze and other fad obsessions, the Starbucks x Stanley Quencher chaos is the result of low supply and high demand. The same can be said about nearly every other hot item from housing to seats at a fancy restaurant.
It is very easy to make fun of people willing to pay that kind of money for a cup, but it is neither fair nor square.
What it is is judgmental and perhaps more than a little hypocritical.
It may seem frivolous to you, but people want to do things that make them happy.
That thing maybe drinking from a hot cup, seeing Taylor Swift or Beyoncé perform or cheering on the Cleveland Browns – fingers and toes crossed – at the Super Bowl.
Who will win the Super Bowl?2024 predictions: An asteroid won't save us. Maybe an AI Taylor Swift/Beyoncé fusion will.
One woman's Stanley Galentine's Day tumbler is another's Eras tickets.
One woman's Eras tickets is one man's $5,495 PlayStation 2 "Call of Duty: Finest Hour."
Who saw the Cabbage Patch Kids, Slinky, creepy Furby robots, iPhone or any of America's other past obsessions coming?
God only knows what will be next.
People want what they want even if it just looks like another pink cup or squashed faced doll to you.
Amelia Robinson is the opinion and community engagement editor at The Columbus Dispatch, where this column first published.
veryGood! (688)
Related
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Vatican prosecutor appeals verdict that largely dismantled his fraud case but convicted cardinal
- Grocery store hours on Christmas Eve 2023: Costco, Kroger, Publix, Whole Foods all open
- Powerball lottery jackpot is over $600 million before Christmas: When is the next drawing?
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Supreme Court won’t fast-track ruling on whether Trump can be prosecuted in election subversion case
- Congress launches an investigation into the Osprey program after the deadly crash in Japan
- For years, he couldn’t donate at the blood center where he worked. Under new FDA rules, now he can
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Chicago man exonerated in 2011 murder case where legally blind eyewitness gave testimony
Ranking
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Japan’s Cabinet OKs record $56 billion defense budget for 2024 to accelerate strike capability
- Japan’s Cabinet OKs record $56 billion defense budget for 2024 to accelerate strike capability
- German medical device maker plans $88 million expansion in suburban Atlanta, hiring more than 200
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Probe: Doomed Philadelphia news helicopter hit trees fast, broke up, then burned, killing 2 on board
- Kim Kardashian Reveals Why She Used SKIMS Fabric to Wrap Her Christmas Presents
- Dispute over criminal jurisdiction flares in Oklahoma between tribal police, jailers
Recommendation
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
THINGS TO KNOW: Deadline looms for new map in embattled North Dakota redistricting lawsuit
Pornhub owner agrees to pay $1.8M and independent monitor to resolve sex trafficking-related charge
A British sea monitoring agency says another vessel has been hijacked near Somalia
Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
Israel-Hamas war rages, death toll soars in Gaza, but there's at least hope for new cease-fire talks
AP-Week in Pictures-North America
Powerball winning numbers for Wednesday's $572 million jackpot: Check your tickets