Current:Home > My$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American. -WealthRoots Academy
$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American.
Charles Langston View
Date:2025-04-10 18:13:06
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 $5,495 PlayStation 2 "Call of Duty: Finest Hour."
Who saw the Cabbage Patch Kids, Slinky, creepy Furby robots, iPhone or any of America's other past obsessions coming?
God only knows what will be next.
People want what they want even if it just looks like another pink cup or squashed faced doll to you.
Amelia Robinson is the opinion and community engagement editor at The Columbus Dispatch, where this column first published.
veryGood! (1934)
Related
- New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
- Out of the darkness: Babies born and couples tie the knot during total eclipse of 2024
- Sister of Maine mass shooting victim calls lawmakers’ 11th-hour bid for red flag law ‘nefarious’
- What happens if you contribute to a 401(k) and IRA at the same time?
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Judge denies 11th-hour request by Trump to delay start of his hush money criminal trial
- Did you look at the solar eclipse too long? Doctors explain signs of eye damage
- Wisconsin Senate’s longest-serving member will not seek reelection
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Mel B Reveals Why She Got Kicked Out of the Spice Girls Group Chat
Ranking
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- Morgan Wallen arrested on felony charges in Nashville after allegedly throwing chair from bar rooftop
- Zoo animals got quiet, exhibited nighttime behavior during total solar eclipse
- Rihanna Reveals the True Timeline She and A$AP Rocky Began Their Romance
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Donald Trump asks appeals court to intervene in last-minute bid to delay hush-money criminal case
- Idaho teen faces federal terrorism charge. Prosecutors say he planned to attack a church for ISIS
- Zoo animals got quiet, exhibited nighttime behavior during total solar eclipse
Recommendation
The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
18.7 million: Early figures from NCAA women’s title game make it most-watched hoops game in 5 years
A man accused of setting a fire outside Bernie Sanders’ office stayed at an area hotel for weeks
Experts warn not to look at solar eclipse with your phone camera — but share tricks for safely taking pictures
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
A Phoenix police officer suspected of having child porn indicted on 2 federal charges
Can’t get enough of the total solar eclipse or got clouded out? Here are the next ones to watch for
Half of Americans struggling to afford housing, survey finds