| Stanley | |
| Producttype: | Drinkware |
| Currentowner: | HAVI |
| Producedby: | Pacific Market International (PMI) |
| Country: | United States |
| Website: | www.stanley1913.com |
Stanley is a brand of food and beverage containers named after William Stanley Jr. who invented the first all-steel insulated vacuum bottle in 1913. The Stanley brand has since been produced by several companies and is currently owned by Pacific Market International (PMI), a subsidiary of the HAVI Group. Stanley is best known for its steel thermoses, and since 2020, for its Stanley Quencher line of tumblers, also known as Stanley cups.
On September 2, 1913, William Stanley Jr. patented the all-steel vacuum flask.[1] The idea came about as a result of his work with transformers, during which he discovered that a welding process he was using could be used to insulate a vacuum bottle with steel instead of glass.[2]
Stanley's new bottle was announced in The Berkshire Courier on July 8, 1915. Soon after, he established the Stanley Insulating Company in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and began mass production of the bottle under the Ferrostat, and later Supervac, labels. He acquired financial backing for the company from his friend William H. Walker, who served as its president, while Stanley served as vice president. Walker would eventually take control of the entire company.
In 1916, William Stanley died at the age of 57.[3] Walker died soon after in 1917.[4]
In 1921, the company was acquired by Landers, Frary & Clark of New Britain, Connecticut who manufactured Stanley's insulated bottles under its Universal trade name. The company continued to manufacture out of Great Barrington until 1933 when Landers, Frary & Clark consolidated operations with its New Britain factory.[5]
The Stanley thermos became known for its durability. It was the only all-steel thermos in production until the mid-1960s.[6] The United States army reportedly tested Stanley thermoses in World War I by dropping them out of airplanes and running them over with heavy equipment. Stanley thermoses were carried by bomber pilots during World War II.[7] [8] [9]
In 1965, the Stanley line was acquired by Aladdin Industries of Nashville, Tennessee.[10] In 1988, Aladdin outsourced the plastic molding assembly of Stanley thermoses to Brazil.[11]
In 2002, the Seattle-based Pacific Market International (PMI) acquired the Stanley and Aladdin retail and branding rights.[12] They expanded the brand to include other non-insulated products including barware and flasks.[13] PMI began manufacturing Stanley products in China.
Stanley introduced the Adventure Quencher tumbler in 2016. The Quencher's early sales were not substantial, and the company stopped restocking and marketing it in 2019. After working with the Buy Guide, a women-run blog based in Utah, to sell 5,000 Quenchers, the company resumed production in an increasingly broad array of colors.[14] The product was the primary driver of Stanley's annual sales increasing from $70 million USD in 2019 to an estimated $750 million USD in 2023.[15] Since successful influencer marketing campaigns for the Quencher, Stanley has shifted its marketing to sell primarily to women.
In 2020, the company hired Terence Reilly, formerly of Crocs, as its president; sales of Quenchers rose 275% between 2020 and 2021.[16]
Released in 2016,[17] the Stanley Quencher (sometimes Stanley cup) became popular as a result of influencer marketing campaigns on social media, particularly TikTok.[18] [19] The sales started picking up in 2019.
In 2020, Terence Reilly joined Stanley as its new president. Reilly engaged with Ashlee LeSueur, co-founder of Buy Guide, who had discovered the Quencher in 2017 at a Bed, Bath, and Beyond store. Impressed by the product, she became a supporter, gifting it to friends and recommending it to her followers, which resulted in increased interest. As a result the company decided to continue production and released the quencher in more colors.[20] In 2020, the Quencher became the brand's top-selling product, a position it has retained ever since.[21] It is Stanley's most popular item among female customers. It has increased Stanley's annual sales from US$70 million in 2019 to $750 million in 2023.
The Stanley Quencher is a vacuum insulated tumbler-style cup offered in 14, 20, 30, and 40 fluid ounce sizes. Features include a removable straw, vacuum insulation to hold the contents at a desired temperature for a longer period of time, and is offered in multiple color options, some limited by seasonal offerings. Many limited edition quenchers have been released to date including some in partnership with Starbucks that have quickly sold out.[22] [23]
On November 14, 2023, Stanley released a limited-edition gold version of the Quencher in partnership with the country music star Lainey Wilson.[24] [25]
On November 16, 2023, a TikToker by the name of Danielle Lettering posted a video of her burnt out Kia Sorento while her Stanley tumbler survived intact with ice still in it.[26] [27] This caught the attention of Stanley's President Terence Reilly, who responded in a video offering to replace her Stanley tumbler and her car.[28] Subsequent to the viral video, sales skyrocketed in the end of 2023.
In December 2023, Stanley introduced a Valentine's Day-themed quencher, the Starbucks × Stanley Quencher, exclusively at Target stores in the United States. Some customers camped out at stores, while others were reportedly "nearly coming to blows or otherwise overrunning the store."[16] [29]
In May 2024, the Sunset Gradient Starbucks x Stanley Quencher was introduced, which features bright metal gold and pink colors.[30] [31]
For the 2024 Mother's Day, Stanley released tumbles in pink with a floral design.[32] [33]
The Stanley IceFlow Flip Straw Collection is a collection of vacuum insulated drinkware that utilizes a flip-straw design that is integrated into the cap.[34] They come in 16, 24, 32, 50 and 96 ounce sizes.[35]
In addition to the Quencher tumblers, Stanley also offers a handful of different vacuum insulated and non-vacuum insulated products including flasks, pint glasses, vacuum bottles, and other types of beverage containers. Stanley also offers outdoor coolers, lunchboxes, and camp cookware sets.
In 2022 and 2023, some TikTokers reported that the Stanley Quencher contains lead after using X-ray flourescence (XRF) testing, and that the tumbler may pose a risk for lead poisoning.[36] The company later released a statement confirming that, “Yes, Stanley uses lead in its manufacturing process for its cups."[37] The company also released a statement claiming that, "No lead is present on the surface of any Stanley product that comes into contact with the consumer" while also adding "nor the contents of the product", contradicting their prior claim that there was lead in the products.[38] [39] In February 2024, Stanley's parent company faced two lawsuits accusing it of intentionally misleading customers about the tumbler's lead-related risk.[40]
Although reusable water bottles have been praised as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastic bottles, the trend of collecting and showing off collections of Quencher tumblers has raised concerns about whether they are better for the environment when they are used infrequently or collected.[41] [42]
The New York Timess Wirecutter blog reviewed the Adventure Quencher tumbler in 2022[43] and the Quencher H2.0 FlowState tumbler in 2024. The reviewer praised the cups' insulation and appearances, but criticized their lids for being prone to leaking. Wirecutter ultimately recommended similarly sized cups from other companies as less spill-prone alternatives.[44]