Trendy water bottles called Stanley Cups, with their variety of sizes, colors and styles, are popular around campus and around the world.
AACC students said they like the oversize water bottles because they are big, keep drinks cold for a long time and get good reviews on TikTok.
“I wanted to see what all the hype was about and it definitely is worth it,” first-year elementary education student Carley Johnson said. “I mean, it keeps my water cold for a really long time, like all day. It has ice in it and I really like my water iced.”
More than 6 billion posts have used the #stanleycup hashtag on TikTok to show off the $45 tumblers, which come in blue, orange, yellow, green, black and rose gold, among other colors.
Business professor Stephanie Goldenberg said students choose Stanley Cups because they come in a lot of colors and are easy to paste stickers onto.
“They can express their personality with the color of the brand,” Goldenberg, the academic chair of the Entrepreneurial Studies Department, said. “Stickers have become kind of a renewed thing. For example, my friend has a Stanley Cup and she gets a sticker wherever we travel, and that’s her travel cup. Yeah, so she puts the sticker on it and then it’s almost like a conversation starter.”
Goldenberg said students use reusable Stanley Cups so they don’t have to throw away disposable plastic bottles.
“It just makes financial sense,” Goldenberg added. “You’re not spending money repeatedly on something. It’s just kind of wasteful.”
Still, a January lawsuit against the maker of Stanley Cups claimed the tumblers contain lead, which could cause lead poisoning and other health problems.
In response, Stanley said although it uses lead in manufacturing, the amount is insignificant and does not come into contact with the consumer or contaminate the liquid in the cups.
Some students said the lead doesn’t concern them.
“If I’m going to get lead poisoning, like, I already have it,” second-year nursing student Grace Evans said. “There’s really no harm in drinking more.”
Johnson said she is not worried, either.
“I mean I saw that it doesn’t get into your water. So I guess that kind of helps,” Johnson said.
Third-year nursing student Abigail Cooper added, “I just don’t feel like buying another.” But Cooper said she’s not happy with her cup, for other reasons.
“I don’t like my Stanley because it’s really hard to clean and it’s kind of impractical,” Cooper said. “I thought the handle would make it easier to carry around, but I actually don’t use the handle at all. Like, I carry it from the bottom.”
Still, Cooper said she is going to keep it.
“It’s honestly just the only water bottle I have so I just kind of use whatever I have,” Cooper said. “I just don’t feel like buying another and I am kind of on the hunt for a different one that’s not $45 but that’s still cute.”
Johnson disagreed, saying her Stanley Cup is easy to handle.
“They’re very durable and I’m pretty sure I’ve dropped this a lot of times,” Johnson said. “Sometimes it gets heavy when it’s full, but it’s very easy to carry because it has the handle.”
