As of 2020, the brand Stanley has caused an uproar with millennials and Gen Z alike with their Adventure Quencher H.20 Travel Tumbler that holds 30 or 40 ounces of your favorite drink. With their large size, fun colors, and unique branding, consumers have rushed to get one. But are they worth the price?
The 30-ounce travel quenchers retail for $35.00, while the 40-ounce total to about $45.00. Many have complained at this price, mainly because the Stanleys have known problems with leaking and the lacquer on the cups chipping from banging on different surfaces. Most users are mothers and teenagers, so this is not the ideal choice for something involving rowdy kids or sports. However, most millennials and Gen Zers strive to be as healthy as possible, which includes drinking an extremely large amount of water. That’s either a lot of water bottles in the landfill or small twenty to sixteen-ounce cups to refill and with the Stanley, most users can hit their goal within a few refills.
A lot of people also don’t want to carry an oversized metal jug around daily that can’t even fit in their cup holder in their vehicle. Many users say that the Stanley Adventure Quencher isn’t as much of a burden to carry, with its large handle and small, bottle-like bottom to fit into cup holders. And the marketing is notably unique, with collaborations with country star Lainey Wilson. She helped design two Stanleys, most notably known as ‘Country Gold’ and ‘Watermelon Moonshine’, and many holiday specials. They also created a bright pink Stanley (shade name Azalea) in honor of the Barbie Movie, which was a perfect accompaniment to the world-renowned release last July. They have many unique colors and textures to fit each user with their preferred stylistic preferences, from soft matte colors to bright metallics.
Another trait of the Adventure Quencher, as well as many other of Stanley’s products, is the ability to keep temperature. A TikToker recently posted a video of how her car had caught on fire with her Stanley inside. With the majority of the car destroyed, she reached in and pulled out the mostly unharmed tumbler, minus a semi melted straw, and shook the cup, revealing that it still had ice inside. The video got well over 2 million likes, and the Stanley CEO took to TikTok to respond, stating that with more Stanleys coming to the user, the company would replace her car to help out.
Social media, such as Tiktok and Instagram, have been unsurprisingly a major driving force for this brand’s popularity. Stanley used a female-led blog called The Buy Guide to utilize sales of the Adventure Quencher in 2017. They posted and marketed the Quenchers to their followers on their Instagram. Sales skyrocketed, especially when users who were mom vloggers, college students, music artists like Lainey Wilson, and TikTok-famous NFL wives were seen with these tumblers. Ashlee LeSueur, one of the founders of The Buy Guide, spoke to the Retail Dive in an article titled “The Rise of the Stanley Tumbler: How a 110-year old business achieved viral success.” and stated that “Any brand on the planet that isn’t marketing to the 25 to 50-year-old woman is really missing the mark. Even if you are a men’s clothing line — no matter what you are — if you are not finding a way to speak to this 25-to-50-year-old female, you’re missing the mark because those are the buyers of our economy. They buy for their families, they buy for their husbands, they buy for their businesses.” With this in mind, the company used many influencers on TikTok and Instagram to reach their demographic of young women to show the efficiency of the tumbler. This tactic has utilized the female perspective and has encouraged brand deals with women in social media, especially with mothers.
Although the Adventure Quencher is not an ideal necessity for everyday life, it does have a unique branding and cult-like following with the younger generations. With its temperature resistance, sustainability, and women-for-women selling technique, it does have an understandable hype. If you are in desperate need of a sturdy water bottle with stellar insulation and fun, personalizable colors, the Stanley may be just for you.
