Current:Home > Markets$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American. -Wealth Momentum Network
$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American.
View
Date:2025-04-15 11:25:12
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! (52497)
Related
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Justin Timberlake Shares Update Days After Suffering Injury and Canceling Show
- Hurricane Leslie tracker: Storm downgraded from Category 2 to Category 1
- Figures and Dobson trade jabs in testy debate, Here are the key takeaways
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Hurricane Milton from start to finish: What made this storm stand out
- 10 players to buy low and sell high: Fantasy football Week 6
- Guardians tame Tigers to force winner-take-all ALDS Game 5
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Mauricio Umansky Files for Conservatorship Over Father Amid Girlfriend's Alleged Abuse
Ranking
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Third-party candidate Cornel West loses bid to get on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot
- Stellantis, seeking to revive sales, makes some leadership changes
- In Pacific Northwest, 2 toss-up US House races could determine control of narrowly divided Congress
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Sebastian Stan became Trump by channeling 'Zoolander,' eating 'a lot of sushi'
- Coats worn by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, fashion icon and JFK Jr.'s wife, to be auctioned
- Watch these 15 scary TV shows for Halloween, from 'Teacup' to 'Hellbound'
Recommendation
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
Who shot a sea lion on a California beach? NOAA offers $20K reward for information
Teen held in fatal 2023 crash into Las Vegas bicyclist captured on video found unfit for trial
Opinion: It's more than just an NFL lawsuit settlement – Jim Trotter actually won
Average rate on 30
Tori Spelling Shares Update on Dean McDermott Relationship Amid Divorce
Chicago man charged with assaulting two officers during protests of Netanyahu address to Congress
North Carolina maker of high-purity quartz back operating post-Helene