Sunday Stuff: Stanning for Stanley

Welcome to The Enthusiast, a newsletter for those who fall in love with everything and everyone. Every week(ish) I send love notes to the people, places and things I'm loving, from the latest in pop culture to random esoteric ephemera–all personally vetted and highly recommended by yours truly.

On Sundays, we talk about stuff.

When is a water bottle not a water bottle? When it’s a Stanley, obvs. This whole craze is absolutely fascinating because it’s only superficially about people (mainly women and by extension, their husbands) losing their minds and dropping $70+ on extremely large water vessels made with lead in the base. It’s also about how legacy brands continue to fail at e-commerce and ignore broader audiences because they don't want to alienate their traditional consumer; how even 100+ year old brands need to adapt to thrive; everyone's favorite capitalist pastime of creating false scarcity; and above all, at least to me, extreme overconsumption in the algorithmic era. 

Full disclosure: I have a Stanley Quencher, and yeah, it’s a good water mug/cup/vessel (I can't bring myself to call it a water bottle, because...it's not). It’s light beige, which I don’t love, but it was also my company Christmas gift this year, so it was free. I had to lay my beloved 40 oz. Bubba Mug to rest after the seal broke last year, so I was able to rationalize it to my husband, who already thinks I have far too many drinking vessels (which: I do not, thx). 

I’m also one of those weirdos who really just fucking loves water: not flavored, not sparkling, not mineral or alkalized or caffeinated or protein-infused, just regular-degular ole water. I like it better than almost all soft drinks, and I drink a LOT of it daily—and I have for a while. It’s gotten so that I can tell at the end of the day if I didn’t drink enough water; I honestly just feel better a molecular level when I’m hydrated. It also helps my shitty (no pun intended) digestive system, and I’m pretty sure it has helped keep my skin looking mad decent for nearly 40 years old. 

I have a variety of water bottles and containers for different purposes:

• ☕️ Coffee: I DO NOT like to mix my beverage vessels if I can absolutely help it
• ✈️ Air Travel: tall, slim, no handle or straw, twist cap
• 💪🏻 Working out: smaller, quick to refill, lighter
• 💧 Daily: 32+ oz., with straw, handle optional

But I seriously can’t grok having an entire wall dedicated to the exact same item but in different colors. And I’m someone who buys the same shirt or pants in multiple colors if I find something I truly love!

Maybe it’s because I stopped using Twitter, barely use Facebook, cut way back on Instagram, and don’t use TikTok; and it’s probably also because I am, in fact, approaching 40. But I also think that this kind of hyper-consumerism is endemic to our society and culture, not just for water bottles, and commercialized social media has absolutely exacerbated it. Consumerism is now entertainment for a lot of younger folks, as well as a quick dopamine fix to pretend like the world isn’t crumbling around us with no real resolution in sight. 

I’m all for little treats in times of despair, but this is the same approach the powerful have used to distract and placate the less powerful since time immemorial: give us something shiny to play with and fight over so we won’t notice the systemic destruction to our rights, communities, and the rest of the planet until it’s too late, then blame them individually for not recycling enough or for still using plastic straws. 

We can buy as much shit as we want, obviously, but on some level we have to know that it’s never going to be truly enough and that the system was set up to perpetuate that exact model. Stanley-shaming is definitely not the solution, but something’s gotta give, and soon.

Related Reading:

• It's Just a Water Bottle - Amanda Mull, The Atlantic (paywall)
• I Almost Drowned in the Water Bottle Craze - Kady Ruth Ashcraft, Jezebel

Okay, so I know it's been at least six months (and then some) and this is yet another new post format, but let's just go with it for now, k? Also, I know all too well The Big Game is tonight, and if you know me at all, you know I truly DGAF, except maybe for Usher's halftime show.

See you Friday and/or some other day this week–if you're not already a subscriber, sign up now (it's free!). Be sure to confirm via email to receive each edition right in your Inbox. If you're a fan, share this post and spread the enthusiasm!

Stay (safely/sanely) hydrated, y'all!
LKH