Experts explain the ‘Stanley’ water bottle phenomena
When Stanley founder William Stanley Jr. invented a vacuum-sealed bottle 111 years ago, he had no way of knowing that a 40ounce water tumbler known as the ‘Quencher’, would take social media by storm.
If you’re a frequent Instagram or Tiktok scroller, you’ve probably seen users – mainly young women – show off their excessive Quencher collections, and lifestyle influencers promote the product to their millions of followers.
Stanley’s online attention spiked earlier this year when their limited edition “Galentine’s” collection dropped exclusively at Target, and were swept off shelves in a matter of minutes.
These days you don’t hear anything about Stanley bottles without words like “craze”, “hype” and “frenzy”. Probably not terms William Stanley Jr. expected to be associated with his industrial water bottle brand aimed at blue collar workers and outdoorsmen.
The Quencher travel tumbler comes in dozens of aesthetically-pleasing colours, patterns and finishes. For a water bottle, it’s pretty, but not without a cost. With tax and shipping to the Maritime provinces, a Quencher bottle comes to just under $80.
Marketing Teaching Fellow at Dalhousie University, Dan Shaw, has seen students sport the Stanley Quencher on their walks to and from class.
“Although these trends may not get the same level of attention on the East Coast than in bigger cities in the U.S., it’s spreading in a similar way,” said Shaw. “People are still tuned into Tiktok and other social media.”
Shaw attributes the brand’s creative marketing, paired with social media’s ability to get things “hot”, to the spike in sales. Stanley’s annual revenue multiplied 10 times over last year, from a healthy $75 million to over $750 million.
According to Shaw, the Quencher’s limited edition drops and “currently unavailable” product notices are intentionally holding back demand to build excitement and anticipation. Subtrends like #Watertok – where hundreds of thousands of users post their elaborately decorated water bottles – are contributing to the brand’s recent success.
“But the aesthetics and quality of the product being able to keep things cold, seems to take priority over marketing the environmental impact,” said Shaw.
Earlier this year Stanley received some of its worst online backlash, after videos surfaced of social media users doing at-home lead tests on the bottles, some testing positive.
Stanley released a statement on their website confirming there was “some lead” used in the vacuum insulation’s seal at the base of each bottle. The company assured, that “no lead is present on the surface of any Stanley product” and if the base cap comes off, the product qualifies for a lifetime warranty.
The Canada Consumer Product Safety Act dictates that each accessible part of a consumer product containing lead can’t have more than 90 mg/kg of the material. The exact amount of lead contained inside of Stanley products is unclear.
Stanley says that Quenchers are made from “sustainable materials”, including 90 per cent recycled Bpa-free stainless steel on product pages.
When Newfoundland and
Labrador-based environmental consultant, Dawn Gough, heard about Stanley bottles containing lead, she was immediately taken aback.
“This poses a real environmental concern, which is closely intertwined with impact on human health,” said Gough. “There’s a reason excessive lead use is banned in Canada.”
For East-coasters tempted to hop on the Quencher trend, Gough recommends researching the company first, adding that there’s always a chance things manufactured outside of Canada don’t undergo the same stringent health and safety regulations.
According to the brand in an April 2022 X thread, Stanley products are manufactured in Brazil and China.
“By collecting items in excess and not knowing the scope of the manufacturing processes you’re funding, it’s likely you’re causing longterm negative effects on the environment,” said Gough.
Gough adds that if you’re going to spend upwards of $50 on a reusable bottle, it would take about two years of consistent use to have a significant positive environmental impact. Your intent when purchasing a reusable bottle – Stanley or not – should be to avoid creating landfill waste, not to look cool.
“The price point of one of these water bottles is a barrier for most people. At this point, it’s become a status symbol,” she said.
A reusable bottle isn’t a product we usually link to high prestige, but the mass amount of social media attention seems to prove otherwise.
Shaw thinks it comes down to who is sharing a video.
“When a person buys from a brand they see someone talking about online, they’re immediately associated with that influencer’s idealized life and values,” said Shaw. “It’s almost like joining a tribe from a consumer point of view.” Despite this growing digital “tribe”, Shaw believes the Quencher trend is bound to cool down in the next six months.
“What you’ll see with social media is that when things become ‘cool’ they eventually get killed. It doesn’t mean the brand is going to disappear, but there’s a shelf life,” he says.
Gough invites Maritimers to question whether they’re buying an item simply to follow a fad, or if they actually see a purpose for it in their daily life.
You can send a strong signal to companies if you support them or not with your wallet – consumers have purchasing power.
“You shouldn’t be after a product for a particular brand name, you should be thinking about the sustainability of a purchase and whether it’s going to last you a long time.”