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Target customers narrowly avoided a heated brawl over the new limited-edition Wicked Stanley cups.
Since the collaboration hit Target stores in the US on October 13, fans have been clamoring to get their hands on the limited-edition Stanley Quenchers, inspired by the characters in the upcoming Wicked movie musical. The Stanley cups come in either pink or green, aptly named “Glinda” after Ariana Grande’s Good Witch of the North and “Elphaba” after Cynthia Erivo’s Wicked Witch of the West.
Each of the 40-ounce tumblers is designed with glittering accents and pops of gold to evoke the magic of the highly-anticipated movie, which hits theaters in the US on November 22.
Since the Stanley cups hit shelves, however, customers have taken to TikTok to share their harrowing experiences buying the products. In one video posted by user @colleenandmaurmi, a group of people could be seen running through Target aisles in search of the Stanley cups display.
She filmed customers grabbing the cups, as well as empty shelves with just one row of the pink “Glinda” cups still available. The woman then asked customers if they had to fight off fellow shoppers for the Wicked Stanley cups. “Did somebody grab something out of your hand? Because they tried to grab something out of my child’s hand,” she said.
One customer answered yes, noting that he was “running” to get his hands on the Stanley cup. He claimed that one woman tried to take his green Stanley, but he told her no. In the background of the video, another woman held up her Stanley cups, revealing she grabbed three pink cups and one green cup from the shelves.
The parent behind the camera also claimed that when she grabbed the cup, one person allegedly told her: “Don’t touch that!”
She went on to film two children at the Target, who each held up their own pink and green Stanley cup. “Let’s see them,” she said to the girls, revealing that they’d been awake “since six o’clock in the morning.”
“There was nearly a brawl for Wicked Stanleys,” read the text over the TikTok, which has been viewed more than one million times. In the caption, the TikTok user – who was shopping at a Target in St. Louis, Missouri – noted that “people went crazy over the Wicked Stanleys.”
The video quickly went viral after it was reposted on X/Twitter, with more than four million views. In the replies, some people mocked the crowds of customers who rushed to get the cup.
“The grip these cups have on grown adults must be studied,” one user quipped.
“I’m sorry but what’s so great about these cups,” another person replied.
“I like to let people enjoy their things, but stanning a Stanley cup to the point that you’re camping out at a store for hours to get a new one is insane…” someone else claimed.
For those looking for a smaller version of the cup, Stanley offers a 20-ounce option for $35, compared to the full-size 40-ounce tumbler, which is priced at $55. The tumblers are also designed with Stanley’s signature durability and sleek functionality.
This isn’t the first time Target stores have been thrown into chaos over limited-edition Stanley cups. In honor of Valentine’s Day last February, the food and beverage container brand released two Target-exclusive 40-ounce Quencher H2.0 in “Cosmo Pink” and “Target Red.”
At the time, people on TikTok documented the lengths that customers went to get their hands on the cups. One video shared by Jazmin Hernandez featured a crowd of people running down the Target aisles for the reusable water bottle. “Getting trampled for a Target Stanley Valentine’s cup,” text on the screen read.
