The ‘Wicked’ Stanley Cups are so pop-u-lar, they nearly caused a brawl at Target
The insulated tumbler on everyone’s lips is causing chaos — again.
On Oct. 13, Target dropped its latest, exclusive Stanley Quencher Tumblers as part of its extensive product rollout for the “Wicked” movie.
The “Elphaba” green and “Glinda” pink drinking vessels are available in 40-ounce and 20-ounce sizes, and have proven to be rather “Popular,” according to one TikToker, nearly causing a “brawl” at their local store.
“People went crazy over the Wicked Stanleys,” reads the caption of the video posted Oct. 13, which shows shoppers rushing into a Target to get their hands on the limited-edition Stanley cups.
The sped-up clip shows a chaotic scene: Customers sprint to the shelf where pink and green tumblers are stocked, and as they arrive, the metal clink of tumblers can be heard along with stifled speech from the crowd. In seconds, most of the tumblers are gone.
“Did you see the people? Did somebody grab something out of your hand?” the TikToker asks two remaining shoppers after the smoke clears. “Because they tried to grab something out of my child’s hand.”
“Yeah, I was running,” one shopper replies, adding that someone asked them if there were any more tumblers available. “Then she tries to take mine and I said, ‘No.’”
Though there are a few videos on TikTok showing a calm buying experience for some “Wicked” Stanley fans, others show customers bum-rushing the tumbler displays at various stores.
One TikToker joked that they had “survived the Stanley wars” by securing one of each tumbler: “We fought for our lives; nobody got hurt.”
“I had to run in store to get the Elphaba one this morning,” says @meaganfetchhappen in a video showing a Target worker pushing a cart of pink and green Stanleys out of a stock room and quickly disappearing before the crowd gets to it. In mere seconds, most of the Tumblers are gone.
Commenters under these videos had many thoughts.
“Come on people..its a freakin cup ?? ????????,” commented one person.
“can’t wait to see these at thrift stores in a year,” wrote another.
“I’m all for people that get excited over releases and whatever… but what I’m not for is people that buy 5, 6, 7 etc at one time,” commented one more. “That’s not really fair to the others that waited and wanted one too.”
As with other Stanley releases, a resale market has opened up on sites like eBay, Mercari and Poshmark, where the limited-edition tumblers are already selling for prices as high as $400, with one lot of four cups going for a buy-it-now price of $1,000 on eBay. One pair of tumblers has already sold on Poshmark for $187.
Target announced on Oct. 3 that it would offer more than 150 “Wicked”-inspired products on its website and in most of its stores in the lead-up to the film’s release on Nov. 22. Products include the Stanley Quenchers, clothing created by the “Wicked” costume designer Paul Tazewell and a singing Elphaba doll.
Stanley’s limited-edition releases have a reputation for causing long lines, parking-lot campouts and general chaos at stores like Target, Starbucks and Taco Bell.
In January, the “Winter Pink” Stanley release caused such a melee at Starbucks stores that folks reported physical fights and attempted robberies.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com