Sounds Like A Cult - The Cult of Stanley Cups

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

You culties have been THIRSTING after this episode, and it’s finally here! With the help of the piss-your-pants funny duo from the Add to Cart podcast, Kulap Vilaysack and SuChin Pak, host Amanda unpacks the evangelical fanaticism surrounding these objectively not-that-special, too-big-to-fit-in-any-goddamn-cup-holder water vessels, which contain not just the keys to hydration but apparently our very souls. Sit back and *drink it in* as Amanda and guests go in on the accessory-cum-religion that is the Stanley Quencher—from its Mormon momfluencer origin story to its TikTok lore to the ever-present cult of consumerism. Also lol that is water brand is one of this week's sponsors 💀💦 Apparently no one can escape this cult!!! Order a copy of Amanda's new book The Age of Magical Overthinking! Catch Amanda on tour!!! April 16: Philadelphia, PA — EXCLUSIVE VARIETY SHOW feat. Kelsey McKinney from Normal Gossip (tickets here) new promo price April 17: Portland, OR — Powell's Books (free, no RSVP needed) May 1: Atlanta, GA — Wild Heaven – West End with A Cappella Books (tickets here) Thank you to our sponsors! Earn points by paying rent right now when you go to joinbilt.com/cult. Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Dipsea is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to DipseaStories.com/cult.  Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to LiquidIV.com and use code CULT at checkout. Go to Zocdoc.com/CULT and download the Zocdoc app for FREE.

Hey culties, it's your host Amanda here with the exciting announcement that my new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking, Notes on Modern Irrationality, is on book stands now. Book stands, what is that? What I mean to say is that this book that I've poured my heart and soul and blood and all of the other liquids into is finally available wherever you buy books or audiobooks and I got to record the audiobook myself, which was so exciting. I really hope you enjoy the book. I hope you pick up a copy. I hope you recruit your friends to read it as well. Anyways, I'm just super proud of it. It's about cognitive biases in the information age. So digital age, do lu lu, if you will, covering topics from

celebrity worship to nostalgia to Instagram manifestation gurus. Links to get your copy in either ebook, hardback, or audiobook are posted in our show notes. The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations. The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Liz Cupps, The Coldest Thing About Stanley Cups Hi, my name is Liz and I'm from California. And the coldest thing about Stanley Cups to me is the price to functionality ratio. Like, why am I paying $40 for something that can't be tipped over or else it'll spill and is just so big and bulky to carry anywhere?

My name's Lily. I'm from Adelaide Australia and I think that the cultiest thing about Stanley is how they literally sell in a glorified drink bottle that seems like a gateway to this elusive influencer lifestyle only until the next product craze comes around. So many cults sell this promise of an end that is just always out of reach. My name is Raina and I'm calling from Portland, Oregon. The cultiest thing about Stanley cups is definitely the customer loyalty to them. Even though they were allegedly found to have trace amounts of lead, my co-worker still refuses to drink out of pretty much anything

else when she's sitting at her desk. This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow. I'm your host Amanda Montell, author of the books Cultish, The Language of Fanaticism, and The Age of Magical Overthinking. Every week on this show, you're going to hear about a different group or guru that puts the cult in culture, from Disney adults to purity rings. This week, we're finally discussing the cult of Stanley cups. To try and answer the big question, this group sounds like a cult, it can mean so many different things in this culty ass time in history,

in jokey contexts, in more serious contexts. Cultishness, it's everywhere. The question is not, are Stanley cups a cult? They clearly are, they're culty as fuck. This fanaticism surrounding these enormous water containers, it makes no sense. It's so beyond a water cup. It's a cult, it's a religion, it's something.

That is not the question. The question is, is this cult, in scare quotes, one of those groups that's like, yeah, super fanatical and wacky, but you know, net positive, or at least relatively harmless, break even on the harm quotient? Or is there actually something very sinister and harmful lurking beneath the surface of these TikToks of these girlies pouring their strawberry powder into their little hydration station to help me unpack the severity of this cult-y phenomenon.

I am joined by two very, very special guests today. They are experts in consumerism, one might say. Before I introduce them, though, I just want to take a moment to thank the sponsors that made this episode possible. Thank you to our sponsor, Dipsy. For listeners of the show, Dipsy is offering an extended 30- day free trial when you go to dipsystories.com slash cult. That's 30 days of full access for free when you go to D I P S E A stories.com slash cult dipsystories.com slash cult. Ever thought of creating your own website? Start with a free trial at squarespace.com.

It's where dreams become websites. Head to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com cult to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Listen up renters ever feel like you're stuck in a loop of rent payments, just watching your money vanish into thin air. It's time to turn that rent game around and start earning some serious rewards. Earn points by paying rent right now. When you go to joinbuilt.com slash cult. That's join, B-I-L-T, dot com slash cult. Turn your ordinary water into extraordinary hydration

with Liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code cult at checkout. That's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code cult at liquidiv.com slash Colt. Welcome back. Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash cult, zocdoc dot com slash cult. Welcome back. I am so excited to intro you to my guest hosts of the week. They are co-hosts of Lemonada's Add to Cart podcast,

Suchin and Coolup. Could you both please introduce yourself and your very important work to our listeners? I'm Coolup V. Lysak. I am the co-host of Add to Cart with Suchan Pak. I am Suchan Pak. I am the other half, the lesser half of the duo that make up Add to Cart.

And it is a podcast about the things we buy and what it says about who we are. What we buy and what we buy into. And I think this is a perfect podcast pairing, if you will, synergy, Amanda. Synergy, alignment, holistic actualization. Listen, speaking of what we motherfucking buy, I mean, I mean, can you buy transcendence

apparently via a Stanley Cup? You can. I mean, I mean, can you buy transcendence apparently via a Stanley Cup? You can. I just want to ask you like as a sort of baseline question since you are like consumerist queens, when do you think a brand goes from cult followed in a sort of cheeky hyperbolic way to something closer to like a GTFO level cult?

Wow. At what point does that shift? And it is the what dream of any small business owner or business to reach that. That's the American dream, right? I think it's when people are collecting the item and laminating the tags. It's a lamination standard. Lamination. I also am going to see your lamination and then I'm going to also add if your tween daughter, your nine-year-old has on her wish list a water vessel, a water cup, that she has no business having, owning, affording, or needing in any way, shape, or form. To me, it's that.

It's that stampede of the tween era that somehow sweeps us into a cult-like frenzy faster than anyone. I mean, ask Sephora, ask any TikTokker. That's when you know something is about to shift. This child, aforementioned child that may or may not be related to Suchin Pak has no access to social media. So then this is something that has bled

into the Santa Barbara Elementary schools somehow, some way. And to me, it's about also, I get it if it was something squishy and small and sparkly and fun like a little toy. You understand the link, but when it is just a steel working man's drinking cup, and I can't not overstate this, and I will continue to state this throughout this entire

podcast that leaks, that completely leaks liquid. Oh God. And she still wants it because everybody in her class has it. Yeah. And I'm glad that you brought up the tweens because it's a point that isn't made enough on this podcast as a sort of millennial dominated listenership as a millennial myself. You know, we're constantly talking about how our age group is very susceptible to cultishness because of

our penchant for conformity, isolation, lack of identity, etc. But the truth of the matter is that like due to hormones and having a squishy prefrontal cortex, no one goes fucking harder than preteens. They are ripe to join cults. You know what I mean? That's like what they're made for. What was I made for? So, okay, let's get into it. You already summarized it beautifully. What the fuck is a Stanley Cup? It is just a working man's thermos. Correct. So for a little bit of history, indeed, Stanley Cups have not always been a cult. Stanley is simply a company that's been making

insulated water bottles and thermoses for camping, very mask, utilitarian products, since 1913, okay? And it gained a reputation for being reliable, generally good, but not like nine-year-old fanaticism, right? In the past few years, however, Stan Lee, specifically the 40-ounce quencher variant skew, a $45 stainless steel tumbler with a handle and straw, has become not only the next hot water bottle on the market, like Move Over Yeti and Hydro Flask, but a veritable

religion of sorts. There is indeed a new sheriff in town and the extent of this obsession knows no bounds. People are seriously crazed over this hunk of metal that doesn't even fit in a cup holder. I'm sorry. It doesn't fit. I thought that was the whole point. No, it doesn't fit. fit. No. Wait, what do you mean? What's that, what's that slender bottom? Not a cup holder, not a cup holder. No, I'm sorry. The fuck are you talking about? Isn't that the whole point of this thing?

Cause it's, it has a slender bottom. No. So my partner's mom trolled us over the holidays and got everybody a Stanley Cup and like stickers to decorate it with just the amount of shit that comes with the Stanley Cup. It's a cinematic universe. We'll get into it. But I was like, okay, whatever. LOL. Like I'll keep this in the car, you know, for when I get perched. I drive a Prius. So like, you know, judge me, but not only would it, the bottom not fit, but it was too tall to be under like the console of the car.

It was useless. So that slender bottom is what? A mirage? A hope? A dream? I mean, there's no use for it. Cool up. It doesn't fit in your car?

No, it doesn't. What are you talking about? I really thought we were just going, for me, it's the leaking factor, but now I'm sweating in my pits because I'm so mad. How does this make sense? How does a brand go from boring camping thermos to ridiculous obsession? It really started because of this one mommy blogger, this woman named Ashley Lisseur, who co-founded a website called The Buy Guide.

Maybe you're familiar with it, but she became obsessed with the quencher only for it to become discontinued because no one was buying it, which devastated her, brought her to her knees. Of course, there's culty crossover here because she had a cup sent to a former bachelor contestant who then posted about it, okay, for all of her little culty crossover here because she had a cup sent to a former bachelor contestant who then posted about it. Okay. For all of her little culty followers. And because of that, Ashley

was able to get a meeting with Stanley and long story short, because it is a tail. She was able to convince them to rebrand the product in pastel colors and sort of like art deco vibes for women, this was only in like 2019. And since then, the cups have exploded into the phenomenon that we know them to be today. This is my favorite fun fact. In 2020, as shit was starting to explode, Stanley hired former chief marketing officer of Crocs, Terrence Riley.

Here it comes. Which had a similar reinvigoration of public interest from like cringe to cult followed slash cringe at the same time. And in the year following, Quenture sales went up 275%. So let's talk numbers, let's talk revenue. The revenue of Stanley jumped from a reported 73 million in 2019 already like, okay, okay, I see you

to a whopping 750 million in 2023. All right. Wow. For a leaky cup that will not fit. Ashley Lassault, she is, she basically is standing on the shoulders of Erin Brockovich. It's about water. Completely, Completely.

Now, is Ashley Le Sur, and I hate to bring this up, a Mormon person? That's a wonderful question. Signs point to Mormon. If she's not Mormon, she's at least like Mormon core. Because I think, again, somebody fact check us, me, is that in my little bit of research that the buyer's guide is Mormon based. It's a Mormon family, right? Of three family members of the Mormon faith. And that's what started it.

Again, we are talking about cults, which is why I bring this up. Otherwise, I could care less. Okay. which is why I bring this up. Otherwise I could care less. Okay, let's see. I am finding that Ashley Lusser at one point had a Brigham Young University email address. So- Okay, there we go, confirmation. Yeah, I do believe the overwhelming evidence suggests

that this was started by a Mormon family group of people. So I throw that out there. You throw that out there and so then we can deduce that within her Stanley quencher, there shan't be coffee. No iced coffee, no warm coffee, no soda, nothing. No hot beverages. That's right, because the Mormon religion frowns upon drinking hot beverages.

Okay, that's new information to me now. No, hot beverages are like the devil's semen to them. That's right. But you know what they pop the fuck off on? Non-caffeinated sugar beverages. So no wonder we're adding like pink, fucking cotton candy ass flavoring to the Stanley cups. And we'll get into the water talk, T.O.K. culture in a bit.

But yeah, it does make sense that Mormon, girly mommy blogger was behind this culty explosion because born and bred missionaries, I mean, they know how to get the word out. Yes. Using the technology though. Yeah, they know how to get the word out. It's like any cult where a certain person of authority points a stick in a direction

and then everybody follows in that direction without a lot of question. I mean, that's how cults work. Totally. In this case, the stick was a straw. So one of the key ingredients in the recipe of Stanley's cult following is actually the way that the brand has been able to capitalize on the cult followings of similarly aligned brands like Starbucks and Target. So let me quote a wonderful reporter for Vox doing the Lord's work.

Alex Abad Santos wrote in a Vox piece titled The Stanley Water Bottle Craze Explained. This reporter said, quote, People will wake up early and wait in line for the opportunity to purchase one. People will spend hundreds of dollars on resale platforms to obtain a special holiday edition like Target's Gallentine's Day Drop. People will show them off online for the admiration of others. So it's really capitalized on like every collab, every sort of like hyper mainstream market. The only collab that Stanley has not made is maybe like Taylor Swift at this point,

but like that's probably in our future. The capitalism is capital-mising. It's extraordinary. No, and may I add in some of my research, I also found out that this, the buy guide shares in some of the profits of selling quenchers from Stanley, right? It's an affiliate link guide. And so when we talk about capitalism, when we talk about who is benefiting, and I often feel like with cults so enmeshed when they get to a certain point, you have to just follow

the money. What the true value of a cult following is, is when you understand where the money is flowing. So I'm not saying that she didn't start off a fan. I'm just saying she has to continue this craze because it is financially extremely beneficial to her bottom line and to their bottom line. I would argue that when money is not the central motivator

in a cult-like atmosphere, it's probably sex. But because Stan Lee feels like maybe the most asexual brand on the fucking planet. It's all about the money here, honey. So another quick data point to sort of highlight the power of these ex collaborations and how they've, it's almost like celebrity power couple vibes, like when Stanley collabs with Target

and Starbucks and the rest. Here's a fun fact for you. There was a Starbucks barista who posted on Reddit, the person's username on Reddit at the time was Cherrythought. Okay, that's not asexual. Posted this horrifying tale on Reddit from the day that an exclusive Starbucks X Stanley Tumblr dropped in their store.

The person said, this woman came in, asked for them. We told her we didn't have anymore. She demanded to know where they were. She came in late at night to bother partners setting up and had also been walking around the building, shining her flashlight through the windows. She lost it when she was told that the cups were purchased. She told us that she talked to our store manager

and that she was told she was guaranteed the cups. That obviously never happened. And she said that she was gonna report us to corporate. She left the building screaming, good luck keeping your job, bitch. She's a Stanley Karen. 100%. No, that's tough.

A stalker, a wow. Wow. Yeah. What do you think she's lacking in her life? This woman has a scarcity mindset. I don't think she has strong female friendships. I'm worried about her sex life. Yeah, me too. And I think she should masturbate more. That's just me making a quick read. Yeah. And you know what? You know what? And I think she should masturbate more. That's just me making a quick read. Yeah. And you know what? You know what? And I thought of this earlier, but I thought it was crude, so I'll say it here.

If the Stanley cup is too big to fit in the cup holder, then it is too big for any hole. Okay. You know what I mean? Okay. It can't fit anywhere. Cup holders come in many sizes and we don't have to diverge into this topic. But I understand what you're saying, Amanda. It is truly too big.

I mean, it actually, contrary to popular belief, it can be too big. Yeah, I agree. It's like how I actually think that the most stuffed Oreo varietal, it's too much cream. Too much cream. And I'm gonna throw this up for you guys because we're just sharing, or guess I am. I prefer the Oreo Thins. Oh, no.

Are you? No, you're canceled, absolutely not. Sorry. No. Sorry. That's gross. At me. At me.

I can't accept that take at all. That is spicy. It's my fact. It's not your fact, it's your truth, okay? This is the problem. This is misinformation. This is disinformation. Is anybody out there listening anymore?

No. Have you all logged on? We want listener left. So a tale as old as time, let me say. This kind of hullabaloo in stores has resulted in an equally cutthroat resale market. That exact same Starbucks Tumblr is now being posted on eBay at the time of this recording, going for as much as $950.

That listing, by the way, had 11 people watching it, like ready to pull trigger, okay? One buyer told the LA Times that he recently sold 10 cosmic pink Stanleys to a buyer who wanted them for a gender reveal party. What? Just to have it in the background? Yeah. Yeah, is that as that-

Is it a flower vase? No, it's a flex. I'm trying to understand. No, it's a flex. It's just a flex. It's a flex at this point. I think it's a flex and it's a religious talisman. Like it's literally like, if you're a Catholic, you have the crucifix on your wall.

And if you are a member of the religion of Stanley, you have to have six Cosmo pink cups at your gender reveal party. Period. So I want to talk about some of the culty crossover here because there are three sort of major catalysts discernible for Stanley mania. But I want to hear from you first, just based on vibes. Why do you think that Stanley cups acquired such a speedy cult following at the time that they did? Like what do you think an American culture was responsible for this at this time?

Well, I want to say full disclosure to the listener because Amanda and Sue Gennari know this, that I own one single Stanley Cup. I have flashed it in this recording. I also wanna state that I thought I was coming in late, having purchased it last July. And why did I buy it? Why, why? Tic-tac? And my little sister, she had one.

And I thought, wow, that's too big at first. Wow, I don't think I need that. And then I was drawn in. I was drawn in, Amanda. And the reason why I'm drawn in, I don't really I need that. And then I was drawn in. I was drawn in, Amanda. And the reason why I'm drawn in, I don't really take it anywhere. I need it. I need to drink more water, period. And I don't want to twist anything anymore.

I don't. I'm too lazy to twist. And what I want to be able to do, and I'm going to demonstrate it for you ladies, is I want to simply be able to move my head to the side and suck up water. I don't want anything. That's all that I want. I just want to be able to do this. I don't want to have it twist, twist, twist. I just lazily want to just side drink water. And that's what I'm about. Okay. So that's a side. I just want it to be honest. It's giving vegetable, like it's a little bit invalid aesthetic.

Slug-like. Yes, yes, like I don't have bones. Yeah, exactly, it is, it is. And is that invalid sheet? Could we turn it that way? So I wanted to set the table there. And now, Amanda, I have already forgotten what you asked me.

I'm curious about the timing. As a cultural phenomenon, why was this the cult we deserved at the time? Yes, I have an answer. I'm sorry, I'm laughing because Ku and I are just in a deep mid-40s brain fog this morning. But I have two answers to that question. And my first question is, is like any good cult and any good peak, right? Because maybe some people don't see this as a cult, right? But any craze is there has

to be a lore, a legend, a hero in the midst. And could this hero be a young woman named Danielle whose car had been engulfed in flames. And she posted on TikTok that from this burning rubble, this hero, this Joan of Arc, pulled out her Stanley quencher. And she shook it. She shook it for her followers to hear. And the ice, it tumbled it and it shook it. And she drank from such quencher.

And I'm making this up, but I'm sure after it, she still drank from it. And it was ice cold. It was an ice cold beverage. So this lore. Yes. Lore. And, and after that happened, after she posted it, Stanley bought her a car. Is that not true?

Intelligent, because this man, the once the CMO of Crocs, he's done this rodeo a few times, Mr. Terrence Riley. So yes, he bought her a car. The whole thing turned into a lore. You see, you have the hero, the damsel, the life-threatening. So I think it's lore. Yes, that's so good. She's also like Daenerys from Game of Thrones. And in this scenario, the quencher is the dragon eggs. That's right. You are absolutely right. And this is the sort of thing that a cult cannot engineer

from the top down. Like the cult leader cannot create the lore. And when they try to, it often comes off contrived. What a good cult leader does is opportunistically seize onto a piece of lore that a follower ignites. And you're exactly right. There was this viral story that couldn't have possibly been better for Stanley's marketing, where a woman named Danielle's car caught on fire and allegedly when the flames were doused, she grabbed her Stanley out of the apparently a cup holder.

That could have been- Her cup holder was big enough. What's that about? Her cup holder was big enough. Listen, go you Danielle. And the water was still fucking cold. Who knows if this is true, but legends and lore. It doesn't matter.

No, over 95 million views, over 95 million views. And so a hero was born. A hero was born. And speaking of lore, it was off to the races from there because the other community that embraced Stanley cups that sort of evolved hand in hand with Stanley cups was Water Talk. Listen, there's a cult subculture, whatever you want to call it for everything. Water Talk is this side of TikTok where users make fun little potions using various brightly colored or themed syrups and powders that are totally allowed in the Mormon religion,

just saying. Often though, they are glittery, they are zero calorie, and they are being consumed in much larger quantities than the maker of these elixirs could have ever intended. I want to quote this Vox piece again. Vox describes Water Talk as quote, videos on how to turn tap water into something that tastes like a radioactive fruit and still be healthy. These videos are huge on TikTok because these powders are not expensive. They're an affordable luxury. The recipes are easy to follow. You can tell yourself that this is a part of your wellness routine because it technically is water and you get a fun little drink at the end that could potentially make you go viral. It's tie-dye mermaid galaxy water that makes you feel whole. It makes you feel like you're a part of something. It

makes you feel like you have an identity, a community, and of course the cup of choice for these TikTokers is always a matching themed, you guessed it, Stanley Quencher. ["Spring Is Here"] Spring has officially sprung my colties and summer's just around the corner. So you better pack your bag with sunscreen, your emotional support water bottle and a steamy beach read. Thanks to Dipsy.

Dipsy is an app full of hundreds of short spicy audio stories. They bring scenarios to life with immersive soundscapes and realistic characters so you can discover stories about second chance romances, adventurous vacation flings, and hot and heavy hookups. I personally love Dipsy. I have loved them ever since they started sponsoring Sounds Like a Cult. I first of all love the interface. It's so beautiful. When I open the app, I'm instantly like, ah, I'm relaxed. And then there are so many amazing features which are updated all the time.

New content is released on the app every single week. So, you know, there's that content that is super reliable. And in between that, you can discover new stories and they even have written stories, which is pretty cool. For listeners of the show, Dipsy is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to dipsystories.com slash cult. That's 30 days of full access for free. When you go to D I P S E A stories.com slash cult, dipsystories.com slash cult.

This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace, which is an all in one website platform for entrepreneurs or creatives to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand, Squarespace makes it super easy to create a beautiful website. I know you've heard me brag about the look of SoundsLikeACult.com before. It is a Squarespace website and it was unbelievably easy to put together. So you're able to upload, organize and access all your content from one place on Squarespace. With this asset library, you can manage all your files from one central hub.

And that works great, especially in combination with Squarespace's flexible website templates. You can get started with one of their professional templates with designs for truly every category and use case, and then customize your look, update content, add features later to suit your needs or whether your needs change over time. You can even use Squarespace to create an online store and sell your products, whether physical, digital, or service products. Stay tuned because I want to make merch. Head to squarespace.com for a free

trial. And when you're ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com slash cult to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Okay, let's have some real talk. We've all been there feeling like we are burning cash with our rent checks. It's frustrating, right? But here's the deal. If you're a renter, BILT Rewards has figured out a way to make rent more rewarding.

Say goodbye to the money bonfire and hello to a renter's revolution with BILT. BILT is breaking ground as the first rewards program that hooks you up with points on your rent. Even if you're still rocking the old school rent check vibes, BILT Rewards has got your back. They'll mail the check for you like having a personal rent paying assistant. Every month, pay your rent and watch the BILT points roll in, put your points toward a flight or a hotel stay,

or you can even put your points toward booking fitness studio classes. There are so many ways to use these points. Built sounds too good to be true, but it's actually not, and you will notice that the second you open the app, which is very easy to use, once you sign up, it will take you through the steps and you will start earning points,

which you can unlock on the first of every month to exchange for any number of benefits that appeal to you. Earn points by paying rent right now when you go to joinbuilt.com slash cult. That's join B-I-L-T dot com slash cult. You know what I'm really bad at? Drinking water! Until I discovered liquid IV. Did you know that a single stick of Liquid IV makes ordinary hydration extraordinary? That's right! With three times the electrolytes of the leading

sports drink plus eight vitamins and nutrients for everyday wellness. Enjoying Liquid IV could literally not be easier, which is great for people like me. You just tear, pour, and enjoy. Mix it into a glass of water and they have so many flavors so that you will truly never get bored. I'm a fan of their lemon lime, but they also have strawberry lemonade, pear, sugar-free white peach. So many good ones. A lot of my friends will stock up their parties

with Liquid IV so that if you don't want to drink alcohol, you can still have a fun, flirty beverage. I also love Liquid IV for traveling purposes. I get super dehydrated when I travel, so I love carrying the little packets around to mix with the water they give you on the plane. It's that easy. Liquid IV is the number one powered hydration brand

in America. Turn your ordinary water into extraordinary hydration with Liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code COLT at checkout. That's 20% off your first order of Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code COLT at checkout. That's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today

using promo code COLT at liquidiv.com. Thank you so much to ZocDoc for sponsoring this episode of Sounds Like a Colt. I know I've mentioned this on the podcast before, but I have an irrational fear of doctors. But ZocDoc makes finding and booking a top rated doctor super, super easy. I used it a couple of years ago when I was sick.

Didn't have a doctor I trusted in my life. I just needed someone really quick to treat me, and I went onto the ZocDoc website and it made it basically effortless to find an appointment that same day. There are plenty of things in life that we have to compromise on, like in our living situation, sometimes we don't have a job that we like, but you should never have to compromise when it comes to your health. Instead, check out ZocDoc, the place where you can find and book doctors who will make you feel comfortable, listen to you, and prioritize your health. You can search by location, availability, and insurance. ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare

highly rated in-network doctors near you and instantly book appointments with them online. Go to zocdoc.com slash Colt and download the ZocDoc app for free. Then find and book a top rated doctor today. That's z-o-c-d-o-c dot com slash Colt. Zocdoc.com slash Colt. I'm Victoria.

I'm calling from California and working at a middle school Stanley cups are a cult. Everybody has one. Everyone knows who doesn't have one. It's you know, what color you have, how old it is. Mine that I personally have is too big and it has been a conversation that I've had with some of the girls and it's just the way that it took over and it was everybody's Christmas gift. It feels like a cult. Hi culties! My name is Talia and I'm calling from Indianapolis. I think the cultiest thing about Stanley cups is that Stanley as a brand is known for having a lifetime warranty and lasting forever, yet the girlies are buying Stanley cups in every color imaginable. It's just completely against the anti-consumerism that Stanley seemingly prides itself on. My name is Mia, calling from Colorado, and I think that the cultiest thing about Stanley

cups is that you can literally dress them up like dolls. You can get little backpacks for them, you can get little charms for them, you can get little keychains to hang off of them, and people walk around like these things are their children. It's so bizarre. It falls into this cult of over consumption. I think it is the weirdest thing in the world and it's really fascinating to watch. What do you think about this overlap of aesthetics and identities makes Stanley cultier than other sort of trending consumer goods of the moment. Well, I also think that speaking of aesthetics is that there is this kind of, and we've been living in it for a while, this like norm core, gorp core, there's like this fashion trend,

right? Every time I see a new hashtag, it's like, grandpa mailman fashion or whatever it is. It's like this hearkening to, you know, a heritage brand or something that's quote unquote ugly that then is cool again. We've talked about on our podcast about a fashion trend that was like going viral called, you know, one third ugly, you know,

where like one third of your outfit is just disgusting and ugly. And that was cool. So I think they're absolutely something to the fact that the Stanley Cup A has been around for so long. And B that it looks just very basic, right? And then you add on all of that. And I also think that the convergence of many cults

brings the Stanley Cup to the top. The convergence of like, bro culture, right? Of like I said, this kind of like, I'm a working man's man, I'm a lumberjack man. With the convergence of the fitness cult, you know, of every lululemon, alo, yoga mama. And then, like we said, the Mormon, when you bring those three parts of a triangle together, you can't but create a cult of its own, you know? Yeah.

And I also want to add, when water becomes a status symbol in itself, then of course it's like, let's get a container for it. Water is such a great thing to build a cult around because it's so fundamental. And like the most successful cults do always build around something fundamental, like agriculture or food. Sex. Exactly, like all these sort of base human needs. I hadn't really stopped to

contemplate the weight of that. So I want to move on to talking about some of the more harmfully cultish aspects of this brand. First, let me kick it to you. I mean, what do you think is a sort of worst case scenario for this? Because it's, you know, we're discussing the fanaticism. On the surface, it seems harmless. But how do you think this could like go off the rails? Well, I mean, I'm not saying it's a lot of possible lead poisoning. Excuse me.

Is there lead in Stanley cups? I'm going to log off. Is this actually true? Because my daughter is drinking from this damn thing. Coo. Allegedly, allegedly. Yeah. No.

So there are lawsuits afloat, so I want to be careful about my allegedlys. The listeners know. I like, I sing allegedly, like it's the name of my lover. So buyer bewareware because Stanley is currently in some legal trouble over lead being allegedly present in the ceiling mechanism of the cup. This information was of course made public via TikTok,

wherein one Stanley owner showed a positive lead test result she'd gotten from swabbing her cup. Okay. Well, Amanda, I had heard that they use a tool that has lead in it to build it. Now I need to find it. And then it actually is more of a bottom situation. And allegedly, if it doesn't ever drop, he might be okay. And in this scenario, we're talking traces, but it still is lead. Allegedly made for. Allegedly. Correct.

Allegedly. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. So according to reporting by Diana Novak-Jones for Reuters, quote, the company has acknowledged in a statement posted on its website that there is lead present in the seal for the cups vacuum insulation, but it said, no lead is present on the surface of any Stanley product that comes into contact with the consumer,

nor the contents of the product. But whether or not lead was put into these cups deliberately or not, still unknown. There has been a lawsuit filed though, and it alleges that the larger company kept consumers in the dark so as not to interfere with its bonanza of influencer driven sales, especially to young women. So, you know, it's sketchy for sure. Yeah. Wow. So there's that piece that could go wrong. And also, you know, we see this various people have commented on, like, I used to have a bunch of swell bottles and where are they now?

I've given them away. But people talk about like, where does it lead to? It's like to landfills. I'm going to go right there with you, Koo on that, because it's not just the cups. It's all the accoutrements. So as Kool Up, if you can show everyone your cup, it also has a little straw cover that my daughter needed. And then my daughter also needed

not only the silicone straw cover, but she needed a gem with her initial on it that dangles from the handle. And so all of this waste around dressing up the Stanley Cup because it has become such a fashion accessory versus a utilitarian tool, to me also, it's just more harm to the environment. Yes, that's absolutely true.

And the irony and hypocrisy of this being a reusable water bottle that's ostensibly superior to single-use plastics. I just can't with it. Yep, that's such a good point. Yeah. I do also want to talk about how all of the doodads and tchotchkes and hee-hoos and Tweedlepaps that you're supposed to buy alongside the Stanley Cup are not only detrimental from a consumerist and climate standpoint, they also create in-group, out-group social dynamics that are extremely cultish. As we touched on, these cups have become the newest form of social

currency among many, especially young people. you know, they have cemented themselves in the wellness clean girl side of TikTok. And while health as a status is nothing new, Alexabad Santos for Vox pointed out, quote, athleisure brands or group fitness classes operate similarly to Stanley cups. If you buy these clothes or go to these classes, you will unlock a better, healthier version of yourself. Better yet, healthy people who recognize the brands or go to the class you've attended will see you as one of them. And of course, nobody is more susceptible to these in-group out-group dynamics than

pre-teen girls. Julia Rienstein of The Cut interviewed several middle schoolers on the Stanley trend. This one 13-year-old named Dahlia said the following, quote, every day when I get into school at like 7 45 a.m., everybody comes over to me like, oh my God, I like your Stanley or it's so cool. I want a Stanley just like yours. It makes me feel like I'm famous and being swarmed by paparazzi. She said, I wouldn't say any of them are actually my friends. They only talk to me in the morning when I'm holding my Stanley. Wow. I mean, that's a powerful talisman for a middle schooler.

Oh gosh. I mean, can you imagine? I almost now I'm like, well, maybe Stanley deserves the mantle that it carries because anything to help you through middle school, but that is powerful. But this isn't gonna last very long. No way. No way is this rain. Like they get their money while they can. I completely understand why they're not bringing

up the lead issue at all. They're just trying to get as much money as possible. And if they have to settle here and there, this is a money grab. Like this is not gonna last forever, much like so many products that have gone to the wayside that we don't care about anymore. Beanie Babies, the long list,

which I'm sure Mandy probably covered. I don't think this is sustainable. I don't know if we're gonna even care in two or five years from now. Five. Right, right. And it's gonna be something else. There's always gonna be something else.

There's always gonna be something else. You know, my expertise is obviously not in like tracking consumer trends, but I do have expertise in how language trends evolve and in predicting like what slang is gonna stick around versus, you know, rotate out. And I think there are some parallels to be made here because normally slang words that end up taking a seat

at the table of everyday English, like the word freaking out, that was just 70s era slang that we now say all the time. They always fill some kind of lexical gap. They always communicate something that could not have been said before. They're not just like a synonym for cool or like a synonym for cool or like a synonym

for something that we're already able to say. Stanley cups are just a synonym for other water bottles. They don't really fill a gap in the market. They're shallow, they're hollow, and especially all of these accessories like the phone pockets and the decorative charms that are like supposed to make you more popular in school or bigger on TikTok. Absolutely like there's no real depth or meaning there. And so I agree. But then, you know, it's like, all right, everybody who sunk a lot of money and time and emotional resources into these Stanley cups, the exit cost isn't going to be that high. It's like, all right, we'll just move on to something else and sure you've got money in the hole, but ostensibly you benefited socially from that. The suffering is really going to be on the part of the planet.

That's tough. That's really tough. I mean, when do you think that bubble will burst? When will people get sick of it and why? I think maybe by the time this airs, it will be on its- God damn it. God damn it. That's my professional jaded opinion about everything, but I could be wrong. I just think that I'm sitting here not having my own, having reluctantly bought my daughter one.

And angry about it. Still quite bitter. I'm more angry than when I sat down, for sure. It doesn't fit in the cup holder. It leaks. It has lead in it potentially, allegedly. I mean, all of these things, it will at some point catch up. And I think that, yes, the pre-teen girls, like if you get the tweens involved, it takes

on a life of its own, but someone has to lead the charge, right? And that person has already left the Stanley Cup behind. You know what I mean? Whoever made it cool is looking for the next cool thing, because that's what cool is, right? Like you want the thing that nobody has. So I just think that it has reached its maximum mushroom cloud and it's on its way out. And I think it's gonna be very quick. Yeah, and just noting that every person on this podcast right now

has one of them in their house. Yeah. They may feel more. Oh, shit, I do. I fucking have one. I forgot. Sorry, it's in my car. It's in my car.

It's... Fuck. Yes. It was inescapable! How fucked is that? It's like the Crocs. I know. I mean, I look at that and I'm like, huh, maybe it'll be a little bit longer, but the Crocs, we're not even going to get into the cult of the Crocs, but I just feel like there is a utilitarian, there is a some sort of benefit to it. This is like, for me, this is as flimsy of a cardboard piece of paper that you can get, you know? Yeah. And that's cultish too, because the promise it's offering that's in part created by the brand, but not even really, it's mostly created by the followers and perpetuated by

the followers that lore that we were speaking about, the promise is so false. This Stanley Cup cannot improve your life fundamentally. It's just what we're projecting onto it because of some on we or pain or isolation, social disconnectedness, whatever that we're feeling. The voids that we fill. We try. We try. We try to fill them.

I also wanted to say just one more point to this. And Amanda, I don't know if you came across this in your research. I also think that this is very culty because like we said earlier about like following the money, right? And like that, I think a lot of cults often start off, let's say, with white men. Men either lacking in power or having a lot of it. And am I correct? And when I read this, my jaw dropped that Stanley's son is Morgan Stanley?

Is this just part of the myth and the lore? Can we? Wait, what? Hold up. I read an article, yeah, Amanda, do the fact checking in real time. And I said, I'm going to bring this to the table because between Terrence Riley, the CMO of Crocs,

between Stanley the originator, between all of this, it just does seem like maybe that's part of the lore. And if it's not- You mean like, what I'm hearing is a bunch of self-made men, just like our former president. Yeah. So according to a website called The Ringer, this article by a reporter named Derek Thompson, the Stanley of Stanley water bottles was William Stanley Jr. who was born in Brooklyn in 1858. He was a physicist and an inventor, okay.

Most of his patents concerned the transmission of electricity, but William Stanley's son was Harold Stanley, and I'm quoting Thompson directly, any finance heads listening might feel their ears perk up here because Harold Stanley worked with J.P. Morgan in the 1920s to found Morgan Stanley. Yes, the Stanley of Morgan Stanley is the son of the Stanley of Stanley water bottles.

And I rest my case. That is correct. That is motherfucking correct. Wow. Madness. American robber barons. You know, when you actually get to who is pulling the levers, is the wizard. Yes. Illuminati, I got it.

Often the wizard is a white man. The wizard is an old money white man, but the reason why the wizard has magical powers is because of some Mormon mommy blogger, girly pop. Correct, again. Yeah, that's the cult formula in a nutshell in America. Yeah. Wow. I think we rest our cases.

Kurt Rainier, what's his name? Kurt Rainier? Rainier? Kurt Rainier. Keith Rainier-y. Needed. Keith Rainier. I don't know what's in it.

Kurt Rainier. Keith Rainier. Kurt Rainier, he sounds hot. I was like, Kurt Cobain. Kurt Renier. Keith Renier. Kurt Renier. Kurt Renier. He sounds hot. I was like, Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain. No, wasn't it Kurt Greenier? No.

Keith Renier. Keith Renier. I just said what I said the first time. Keith Renier needed a girl from small town. Small town. I'm going to get guys Yeah, Kurt Cobain needed that small town girl to make smells like teen spirit ahead. I know what you're saying Hey, this is Alex from Vancouver, Canada. I think the cultiest thing about the Stanley cups is those people that do the engraving

and they engrave other culty things on them like Disney princesses or Taylor Swift, which I did end up buying and charge even more money for these highly overpriced water cups. Yeah, gotta have them. Hi, my name is Sasha. I'm calling from Phoenix, Arizona. I think what makes Stanley Cups culty is that people are willing to put themselves in harm's way and in potentially dangerous situations in order to secure the cup. And conversely, I think it's super culty that people are willing to hurt others in order

to get the cup for themselves. My name is Sarah and I think the cultiest thing about the Stanley Cup is that I have heard of children being bullied at school because they have a dupe or an off-brand Stanley Cup instead of the genuine Stanley Cup. All right, on that high note, we're going to get right to our verdict. Normally on Sounds Like a Cult, we play a game, but I've met my giggle quota for the day. No more games.

It's time for the verdict. Out of our three cult categories, Live Your Life, Watch Your Back, and Get the Fuck Out. Kool-Ap and Suchin, which cult category do you think Stanley Cups falls into? It's Live Your Life because I think it's life is

on the wane. Correct. That's how it, but also I'm like, watch your back, but I mean, watch your wallet. Watch your wallet. Yeah. It's more watch your wallet. Yeah, you know, it's said sometimes in the lore of Sounds

Like a Cult that we grade on a curve, you know? We're not evaluating Stanley Cupps in a vacuum. I'm comparing it in my mind to every cult that's ever been covered on this show. And comparatively, I got to call it a live your life. I got to. Yeah. Yeah. Look, what's going to happen soon is it is going to be the murder weapon of some true crime podcast. Good call. And that's going to happen. And then it will change it. And at that time, we'll revise.

But that is going to happen. These are heady. Yep. Yes. And with the right amount of force, it could break the skull. And coupled with female rage. I mean, let's not underestimate the power of female rage. And so that could turn that corner.

Not that we want it to and not that we're encouraging. But should it turn that corner, we revisit it. But for now as it stands here in the moment we are recording, it is a live your life. Live your life. We're recording this in March. I wonder by the time that this comes out, once Stanley cups are irrelevant, fuck me, if the murder will have already happened.

We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. We're here. You know where to find us, Amanda. Absolutely. Gorgeous. Speaking of finding you, where can our listeners find the both of you and join your cult?

Oh gosh, please. That's all we want. Two Asian aunties who press our opinions and our shopping habits onto you little nibblings. Go find us on Luminata wherever you get, you find us podcast, and follow us on Instagram. Our Instagram is at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at taking a little mid-season break while I'm on book tour and preparing for my new podcast Magical Overthinkers. Stay tuned for that, but in the meantime, stay culty. But not too culty! No, it's, I said guilty. It's just, I said, but not too guilty. Sounds Like a Cult is hosted and produced by Amanda Montell and edited by Jordan Moore of the PodCabin. Our theme music is by Casey Kolb.

This episode was made with production help from Katie Epperson. Our intern is Reese Oliver. Thank you as well to our partner, All Things Comedy. And if you like the show, please feel free to check out my books, Word Slut, A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language, Cultish, The Language of the Natacism, and the forthcoming, The Age of Magical Overthinking, Notes on Modern Irrationality. If you're a fan of Sounds Like a Cult, I would really appreciate it if you leave a rating and Come and join me for the cultiest event of the season. Oh hey! It sounds like a cult host Amanda here to invite you this April to New York, Boston

and Philly where I'm putting on a culty variety show that you are not gonna wanna miss. This show, Cult Gathering Extravaganza, features guest appearances from the cult-followed podcasters behind Normal Gossip, Petty Crimes, Love Letters, and Strange Customs, plus drag burlesque performances, a musical guest, exclusive merch of meet and greet, and more! And this just in, for the New York event, use the code CULTMAGIC at checkout for 10% off your ticket. A copy of my new book is also included in the price.

It's going to be a hootenanny. Recruit your friends. Ticket links can be found at the link in our Instagram bio at Sounds Like a Cult Pod or on our website, soundslikeacult.com.