Humanity will never stop looking for status symbols, and it’s pretty easy to figure out what are the typical products that folks latch onto as part of their flex appeal: Cars, jewelry, homes, clothes, etc. Now, it involves the ubiquitous Stanley cup that has spurred a lot of controversy.
TikToker KobeBrian (@worstlyfe) said his younger sister was mocked after he bought her a water bottle for Christmas. He discovered she wasn’t too happy with the gift when she came back home from school one day and revealed that she was getting bullied because it wasn’t a Stanley 1913 cup, vowing to never bring the “ghetto” thing he purchased for her ever again.
He relays how his younger sister was mocked for not sporting the viral Stanley cup that everyone and their mother goes nuts for on social media.
“Y’all for Christmas I bought my little sister this new water bottle, it’s not a Stanley Cup, but it keeps the water cold it gets the job done,” he says. “And after her first day back on Monday she told me she’s never going to school with that ‘ghetto water bottle again.'”
Ignoring the fact that his feelings were probably hurt after hearing his younger sister share such harsh words for the gift he got her, KobeBrian says, “She basically told me kids were bullying her for not having the Stanley Cup but just peep game and lock in real quick. After I dropped her off on Monday she said she was never gonna use this again and I thought that was really disrespectful so I told her I’m gonna return it and get my money back.”
However, KobeBrian’s thoughts on the matter shifted somewhat after he dropped her off at school the following day.
“And when I dropped her off at school on Tuesday I kinda see where she was coming from,” he says. “I kid you not, every kid that was getting dropped off had the Stanley cup, and I want y’all to keep in mind these kids are small as hell. They’re walking around with the Stanley cup like it’s a baseball bat.”
He soon found himself on the receiving end of a child’s mockery when he was kind enough to lend his sister’s friend a ride home. He says the girl, after seeing his water bottle, which wasn’t a Stanley cup, began laughing upon seeing it. Instead of telling the young girl that she could walk home, KobeBrian decided to purchase his sister a pair of Stanley cups.
@worstlyfe $45 for a water bottle is crazy. I shoudlve texted the plug #fyp #tiktok #storytime ♬ original sound – KobeBrian
Viewers responded in the comments section that this isn’t the first time a water bottle craze ended up becoming a trendy status symbol—numerous people referenced the Hydro Flask.
“It’s like the hydroflask all over again,” one person wrote.
Another said, “Stanley is the new Hydroflask,” while another drove the point home that there really isn’t any difference between the two products.
“What even more crazy is the technology behind a Stanley Cup and a hydro flask are literally the same in cold/heat retention,” they wrote.
One viewer thought that the craze behind the cups was nuts, writing, “That’s crazy bruh it’s jus a cup.”
The fervor surrounding Stanley Cups, especially the Target exclusive limited edition Quenchers that are being released ahead of Valentine’s Day, has already culminated in some physical altercations that have spilled into online drama. That’s right, adults are fighting over the chance to pay $40+ for a cup because they want to make sure they’re getting it in a red or pink limited edition color.
If you’re unfamiliar with this particular cup design it’s constructed in such a way that the base of the cup fits in most car cup holders but has a handle for more versatile gripping. The straw is fastened with a piece of a soft-plastic/silicon-esque stopper that keeps liquid from spilling, so you get all of the heating/cooling properties of a stainless steel thermos, but the convenience of being able to sip from a straw whenever you want.
As for the “craze” that has consumers in a chokehold, a trend researcher explains that the Stanley cup obsession may be on its way out, and shares what new trend may come to replace it.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Stanley and KobeBrian via email for further comment.