Chances are if you’ve spent any time at all on the internet, you’ve come across a specific type of woman who is obsessed with collecting Stanley cups. For some unknown reason, these cups have exploded in popularity, perhaps because they can withstand extreme temperatures, perhaps because people love a trend. Whatever it is, people take these cups extremely seriously, as we all learned this week after a video of rushing a Target display of Valentine’s Day themed Stanley cups went viral.


@victoria_robino_26 #fyp #fypシ゚viral #target #targetfinds #stanleycup #stanley #stanleytarget #valentinesday #stanleyvalentinesday ♬ original sound - Victoria Robino


The video was originally posted by TikToker Victoria Robino of Phoenix on December 31st, and shows a crowd of people at a Stanley cup display racing to grab a maximum of two Valentine’s Day themed Stanley cups each. At the end of the video, Robino added that the shelves were cleared in just four minutes.


In fact, around the country, Stanley cup enthusiasts are upset that their local Targets have sold out of the cups.




People are equal parts fascinated and concerned by this obsession, with one Twitter user posting that they would watch a 10-episode documentary on the phenomenon. In a follow-up tweet, they explained that part of the fascination was the consumerist aspect considering the entire point of the cups is to cut down on plastic water bottle usage because you presumably care about the environment. Some people just care about having one of each color Stanley, okay!


@mia_lovespink how many stanleys do you have? @Stanley 1913 #stanleycup #stanleycupcollection #blowthisup #viral #fypシ゚viral #fyp ♬ original sound - r & m <3 ⸆⸉


Others were just amused, with one person tweeting, “Imagine cups being your personality,” and someone else pointing out that “everybody buying this cup got the same outfit on.” Over on TikTok, people were also mystified by the Stanley cup craze, with some comparing it to the Rae Dunn craze of the late 2010s and early 2020s.


@nmillz1

IT HAS TO STOP!!!!!

♬ original sound - Hi


A popular TikToker uploaded a rant about videos he’d seen of people fighting over Stanley cups, arguing, “Black Friday was two months ago — if you wanted to fight somebody inside a grocery store, that was the day to do it,” and “the Hydro Flask community would never act like this.” Hydro flasks gained popularity in mid-2019, primarily with Gen Z, becoming part of a meme involving a particular kind of girl, “VSCO girls,” who use the photo-editing app VSCO religiously and carry Hydro Flasks everywhere.


This is the nature of all trends, ultimately: inscrutable to those on the outside looking in, and eventually embarrassing to those who found themselves caught up in the insanity. Hopefully the Stanley cup collectors eventually realize that it is, indeed, just a cup.