Current:Home > Scams$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American. -Intelligent Capital Compass
$350 for Starbucks x Stanley quencher? Fighting over these cups isn't weird. It's American.
View
Date:2025-04-16 05:46:58
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! (98)
Related
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- 'Great news': California snowpack above average for 2nd year in a row
- Expand or stand pat? NCAA faces dilemma about increasing tournament field as ratings soar
- Avoid these common tax scams as the April 15 filing deadline nears
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Paul McCartney gushes about Beyoncé’s version of 'Blackbird' on her new 'Cowboy Carter' album
- Fantasy sports company PrizePicks says it will hire 1,000 in Atlanta as it leases new headquarters
- Emma Roberts says Kim Kardashian laughed after their messy kiss on 'American Horror Story'
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Indianapolis police to step up enforcement of curfew law after weekend shootings
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- 6 inmates who sued New York over its prison lockdown order will get to view solar eclipse after all
- LeBron James supports the women's game. Caitlin Clark says 'he's exactly what we need'
- House explosion in New Hampshire leaves 1 dead and 1 injured
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Paul McCartney praises Beyoncé's magnificent version of Blackbird in new album
- NC State star DJ Burns could be an intriguing NFL prospect but there are obstacles
- Who Is Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Ex-Fiancé Ken Urker? Everything to Know
Recommendation
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Molly Ringwald thinks her daughter was born out of a Studio 54 rendezvous, slams 'nepo babies'
5-year-old fatally shot by other child after gun was unsecured at grandparents' Michigan home
Falling trees kill 4 people as storms slam New York, Pennsylvania and Northeast
'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
Kentucky governor vetoes nuclear energy legislation due to the method of selecting board members
NBA's three women DJs are leaving an impact that is felt far beyond game days
Election vendor hits Texas counties with surcharge for software behind voter registration systems