You Are What You Drink Out Of

The year is off to a busy start. Jeremy Allen White stripped down to his knickers. Everyone is dressing like a mob wife for some reason. Another season of The Bachelor is coming back, even though a franchise wedding just took place. People have started physically fighting over Stanley’s collaboration with Starbucks on a limited-edition colorway of the viral Quencher water bottle.

Stanley is the name on everyone’s lips right now. Founded in 1913, Stanley products were once the bottles of choice for World War II pilots and were historically a beloved blue-collar brand. Now, though, thanks to #WaterTok creators and family channels, the brand’s standout product is a 40-ounce reusable cup with a big handle and long straw that’s known to keep drinks cold for days — even in the event of, say, your car catching fire.

For some, Stanleys are more than just a water bottle — the item has become a core element of their lives. People who were once non-believers are popping up on your FYP to share how the cup has changed their habits. The resale value of some particularly coveted colors can reach up to $215 on sites like StockX. On TikTok, people are showing off the rooms in their houses dedicated to displaying their Stanley collections. Some say they’ve never felt so hydrated before. Etsy shops are selling accessories like name plates, straw covers, and wearable straps specifically designed for Stanleys.

But this isn’t the first time a drinking receptacle has become a whole personality trait. Decades before people were buying shelves for their Stanleys, other cups were the must-have accessory.

Red Solo Cups

Since the 1970s, red Solo cups have been a staple at family barbecues and frat houses alike, with billions sold each year. If you’re a millennial, you’ve probably covered up a red Solo cup in a photo before you were 21 with calculated poses or through some skillful editing. To Gen Z, blatantly holding cups in pics is kind of cheugy — plus, kids these days are likely drinking BORGs anyway.

Back in the day, though, toting the red cup was a badge of honor for underage drinkers. You knew it wasn’t just filled with plain soda; whoever was holding it was definitely drinking something spiked. It was a little bit coy without being in your face.

The cups became a cultural symbol synonymous with partying partly due to Toby Keith’s aptly-named 2011 hit “Red Solo Cup,” in which he proudly sings about all of the qualities that make them great. They’re cheap, disposable, easy to stack, and have even helped him get “lucky” before. Not too shabby for an item that retails for about 12 cents a pop.

Starbucks Tumblers

Starbucks began selling seasonal reusable tumblers in the 2000s, and it wasn’t long before fans became full-on collectors. The most basic cold cup starts at $3, while some of the rarest limited-edition runs are listed on eBay for more than $100. The brand rolls out special editions each season, from neon-studded tumblers to color-changing cold cups.

Some may say Starbucks collectors walked so Stanley fiends could run. These cups are the mark of someone who knows their way around a Marshalls and likely drinks iced coffee all year round. Plus, they’re a sign of true fandom — they have their favorite coffee chain and stay loyal to it.

Ashley, 31, has been curating her Starbucks tumbler cup collection since 2020, when she helped her friend hunt for a specific cup and fell in love with the chase. Now she mostly buys international Starbucks tumbler cups from places like Korea and China.

“Starbucks keeps my attention because their cups are so unique — some light up, some have cute characters on them,” she says. She’s committed to her Starbucks cups over newer trends like Stanleys (“They’re too big”) and only actually uses 25 of the 195 cups in her collection in order to retain their value.

Hydroflasks

The Hydroflask VSCO girl boom in 2019 was the viral aesthetic Gen Z swore by way before the clean girl look or coquette anything. VSCO girls take their Spotify playlists very seriously and are always shooting photos on their Polaroid cameras (or at least editing their pics to make them look like they were taken on film).

A Hydroflask water bottle — especially one in a bright color covered in stickers — was integral to this look alongside scrunchies, oversize graphic pastel T-shirts, and Birkenstocks. Those who still rock this item are retired VSCO girls or can’t validate replacing it after spending $45 on it during the brand’s heyday.

Stanleys vs. Owalas

Fast-forward to 2024, and you’ll find two rival camps of Water Bottle People — Stanley Cup Quencher diehards and Owala FreeSip fans. Both of these water bottle loyalists are chronically online, although Stanley users are more shameless about it. To hold a Stanley is to brand yourself as someone with a high screen time and a list of influencers you unironically love. Owala users are more low-key about how easily influenced they are. The sleek look of the bottles is very “if you know, you know,” and since the bottles can close easily, they’re ideal for the on-the-go type. Whichever side of the debate you fall on, you likely know your way around TikTok or have a cool Gen Z cousin who tells you what’s “in.”

Both options come in bright hues with the occasional seasonal color drop, but the Stanley Cup has some people setting their alarms and throwing punches. The cup craze itself increased the company’s revenue tenfold, from $75 million to $750 million a year in 2023.

For Owala stans, though, there is no competition. Brian, 24, has four. He got his first one last year, after never owning a reusable water bottle before, and he’s now Owala-obsessed.

“I got [my first one] over the summer and I used it so much I broke it — that is not a knock to Owala, that is just proof that it’s by my side at all times,” he says.

“I’m Team Owala because I love their branding, I love the colors they drop, and I find they’re the perfect shape. I’ve been told by at least one person that when I drink out of a water bottle with a straw hanging out of it I look like a baby. So Owala fixes that problem because the straw is hidden,” he says. “Sure, they don’t fit into the cup holder in my car but that’s the sacrifice you make with an Owala. They’re iconic.”

Regardless of what you’re drinking out of, it’s a win if you’re staying hydrated at all. Maybe you’ve fallen victim to the current Stanley Cup frenzy and you’ll look back in a few years and laugh as you’ve since moved on to your next FYP-induced hyperfixation.

But it could always be worse — you could be one of those freaks out there who doesn’t like water. Stay thirsty.