Why Does Anybody Need 37 Stanley Cups?
People are spending thousands of dollars to have Stanley tumblers and Lululemon hoodies in different colors. Blame, or thank, social media.
How many water bottles—or Lululemon leggings, or Tree Hut body scrubs—does any one person need?
For some people, need isn’t the issue. It’s about buying things they say make them feel good, and showing them off online. The Stanley Quencher tumblers that have ignited tussles at Target stores and become a viral topic online are the most recent example of a shopping trend: buying multiples, and sometimes dozens, of the same item.
Thank, or blame, social media, where users flaunt their collections, showing off shelves lined with water bottles or color-coordinated closets in videos on TikTok and Meta Platforms’ Instagram. On TikTok, the hashtag #stanleytumbler has 1.2 billion views and more than 67,000 posts, says the social-media platform. Multicolored arrays of Lululemon sweatshirts and Tree Hut sugar body scrubs have also driven millions of views on the app.
Brands are capitalizing on shoppers’ desire for novelty and the fear of missing out, releasing limited-edition items in small quantities, spurring wait lists and sharp premiums on resale sites.
Amelia Awad started her Stanley cup collection a year ago. She now has 67. PHOTO: AMELIA AWAD
Amelia Awad got her first Stanley Quencher a year ago. The 16-year-old high-school sophomore in Birmingham, Ala., now has 67 Stanley tumblers.
“I’m obsessed,” Awad says. The insulated Quencher—which currently retails for $45 for the 40-ounce version, or $50 for limited releases—first caught her eye on TikTok. Her parents have now spent about $3,000 to acquire them in every possible color and size.
Similar to collecting Jellycat and Squishmallow stuffed animals and sports jerseys of the same player, buying exactly the same item in multiples is a kind of self-expression that links your personality to your purchases, according to Michael Liersch, head of advice and planning for Wells Fargo.
“Each version or color, we get another little boost of dopamine,” says Charles Lindsey, associate professor of marketing at the University at Buffalo School of Management.
Novelty, especially for rare or hard-to-get items, also helps. “There’s a scarcity component,” Lindsey adds. “That’s a really big driver when it comes to human behavior.”
For proof, see the thousands of TikTok videos showing users with cupboards full of cups and body scrub and closets overflowing with workout gear—some of which will go unused and unworn, and end up in the trash after a fad fades. #lululemonscuba, referring to one of the company’s clothing lines, has more than 156.4 million views and 5,699 posts, TikTok said, while #treehutsugarscrub has 428.8 million views and 32,400 posts.
Owners of multiples say that having, for instance, 20 pairs of Lululemon Align leggings (which start at $88) make them feel confident and happy. Gifting fuels it, too—if someone loves their Stanley Quencher in rose quartz glow, why not get them one in balsam glow? It’s likely the coming “Galentine’s Day” will bring plenty of thermos exchanges among girlfriends.
Awad has racked up 137,000 TikTok followers in part by sharing how she organizes her Stanley collection or coordinates her tumblers with different outfits. She says she uses every cup she gets, even the coveted ones in colors like pink parade that are reselling for hundreds of dollars online.
“If they are rare, I would want to use them more because I’m special for having them,” Awad says. People frequently question how much she’s spent on Stanley Cups in comments on her social-media posts.
The recent Starbucks x Stanley pink Quencher, offered at Starbucks stores inside Targets in the U.S., led to a frenzy more typical of exclusive sneaker drops or aughts-era iPhone launches. Some shoppers camped out overnight to snag the $50 Stanley 40-ounce cup, which sold out within minutes at some locations. (You can now find them on resale sites such as StockX for upward of $200.)
“Not everybody could get a Stanley, and that’s a brand’s dream,” Terence Reilly, global president of Stanley, said to Inc. Magazine a year ago of the continuous Quencher shortages. He previously was marketing chief at Crocs, another brand where consumers buy many colors of the same style. Stanley—a century-old company that started by making bottles to keep outdoors enthusiasts’ drinks hot—declined to comment for this article.
Insulated cups, mugs, tumblers and other portable beverageware totaled $1.8 billion in sales last year, a 33% increase from 2022, according to Circana, a consumer-goods tracking firm.
Like Awad, Michelle Mendoza coordinates her 75 Stanleys with her outfits and views them as accessories, just like a necklace or bracelet. She posts about her Stanley collection on her TikTok account with more than 2,000 followers, and likes chatting with fellow Quencher fans in comments and in real life.
“If I see someone at my hair salon who has a Stanley, it’s just an instant conversation starter,” says Mendoza, 28, who lives in Salt Lake City.
Kellen Smith, a 26-year-old naval-architecture and marine-engineering student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has 102 Lululemon scuba hoodies, as well as various other items. She estimates her collection is worth about $40,000.
The scuba franchise has been a “guest favorite” since its introduction about 20 years ago, says Sun Choe, chief product officer at Lululemon. The company regularly updates it with new cuts and colors to give customers more options, Choe says.
Smith’s collection started innocently enough, with a pair of leggings in December 2021. She went to the store looking for the hoodies, which are made of cotton-blend fleece and start at $118, after seeing them sold out online. She bought one, and kept coming back for others.
Smith took a job at Lululemon in May, after a manager told her to apply since she visited the store so often. She views the clothing as a daily self-esteem booster.
“At the end of the day, people collect things that kinda puts a smile on their face,” Smith says.
Erin Chau has a dedicated athleisure closet, with Lululemon pieces accounting for a huge chunk of the space. PHOTO: ERIN CHAU
Most nights, Erin Chau peers into her athleisure closet to figure out what she’s going to wear the next day. It’s almost always one of the 100 Lululemon hoodies, sports bras, shorts and other apparel she owns, many in multiple colors of the same item and full sets of clothing.
“I feel more confident when I’m wearing a matching set,” says Chau, a 25-year-old tech worker who lives in Toronto. “I’m happier.”
She doesn’t know how much money she’s spent on Lululemon and says she’d rather not know. She has slowed down her Lululemon purchases now that she has items in almost every color.
“That’s the whole point of the collection. Something that will last forever that I can wear over and over,” she says. “I barely buy new pieces now because my collection is exactly what I want it to be.”
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Write to Ann-Marie Alcántara at ann-marie.alcantara@wsj.com
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