It was just after a hot yoga class at Park City Yoga Collective and my friends and I slumped into some chairs outside Cupla coffee shop. Kerry hoisted a giant white Stanley cup onto the table like she was setting down a 35-pound kettlebell.
“How much water are you carrying in that thing?” I asked.
“What? It’s only 40 ounces,” she said, daintily sipping as if it were a mint julep. “It fits in my cupholder.” She lifted the handle to take another sip.
I’m someone who firmly believes you should never drink anything bigger than your head. Still, filled with liquid, I’m guessing the Stanley cup weighed enough to give you some serious bicep definition if you did enough reps.
After that, I started to notice the Stanley tumblers everywhere. At the grocery store. The gym. The pool. On baby strollers. Apparently, this was the Millennial-chic version of the manly-man Gatorade cooler you see on the sidelines at NFL games. Or the bro-worthy Big Gulp. Only this one comes in matte nail polish colors with names like Tigerlily, Fog, Orchid and Eucalyptus.
The 110-year-old brand’s latest version, The Quencher H2.0 FlowState Tumbler 40-ouncer is so TikTok-famous that many of the colors sell out as soon as they’re introduced.
The Stanley cups have a cult-like following on social media by so-called “Utah moms.” One Instagram post asked, “On a scale of Diet Coke to a Stanley Mug, how Utah Mom are you?”
In addition to owning a Stanley cup, other Utah Mom qualifications include “No one knows how to spell your kid’s name; your hair is curled, but the ends are straight and you go to Chick-fil-A once a week.”
Utah mom-fluencer Jane Williamson (@jane), who has over 400K followers on Instagram and close to that on TikTok, says, “You know you’re from Utah when you’re nice, blonde and have anxiety.” Not to mention a massive Stanley cup collection that matches your manicure.
The hashtag #StanleyTumbler has over 200 million views. Google it, and you’ll find top searches for the answers to life’s most burning questions: Why is the Stanley Quencher so popular? What’s the deal with Stanley Cups? Why do people love the Stanley Cups so much?”
A story about the viral tumblers in The New York Times even quoted the president of the company saying he got a note from someone who “wanted their ashes placed in their favorite Stanley.”
Forget about pro hockey, it appears that this Stanley cup is the true trophy.
I get it. I know we’re supposed to stay hydrated, especially in this Utah high-desert climate. But is carrying around a cup of water the size of ski boot really necessary?
Last night, I was at a mountain bike ride with Team Sugar. It was one of the hottest evenings of the summer. The leader was going through the pre-ride briefing. “Ok, everyone — gloves, helmet, does everyone have enough water?” She looked down at the measly plastic bottle in my water cage. “Is that gonna be enough for you?”
I looked around at the 15 or so other riders in my group. I was the only one who didn’t have a massive hydration pack. “Erm, I figured it was only an hour or so,” I muttered, kicking a rock under my tire.
Ok, I give. I’m thinking next week, I show up for the mountain bike ride with a 40-ounce Stanley cup in my bottle holder. I already picked out the color: a cool, green shade called Alpine. Does that make me a sellout?
As Kurt Cobain once said, “I don’t blame the average 17-year-old for calling me a sellout … maybe when they grow up a little bit, they’ll realize that there’s more to life than living out your rock and roll identity so righteously.”
At least I’ll be hydrated.