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The Street
The Street
Patricia Battle

Target shoppers cause chaos at stores over viral product

Target  (TGT) customers have a funny — yet disturbing — way of showing their excitement for a new product.

Recently, chaos erupted at Target stores across the country after it dropped a highly anticipated item that has gone viral on social media.

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Ahead of the Nov. 22 release of “Wicked,” a Wizard of Oz prequel ⁠film that stars celebrities such as Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, drinkware brand Stanley decided to unveil its Wicked-themed insulated cup collection in Target stores on Oct. 13.

Related: Target employees are being fired for a strange reason

The collection contains two limited-edition Quencher Tumbler cup designs. The glittery pink design is based on Glinda, one of the film’s main characters. The shimmery green design is inspired by Elphaba, who is the Wicked Witch of the West in the film.

Target is selling the 20-ounce version of the cups for $35, while the 40-ounce versions sell for $55.

Chaos erupts at Target over 'Wicked' Stanley cups

Shortly after the collection dropped at Target locations, shoppers reportedly began lining up in front of stores at around 6 a.m. to purchase the limited-edition cups.

One shopper even filmed a “brawl” erupting at a display that had the cups laid out for sale in a Target store.

In the viral TikTok video, you can see customers pushing and shoving each other to get their hands on one of the cups. The person filming the video even claimed that a shopper tried to grab a cup out of her child’s hand.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Many viewers who commented under the video admonished the mayhem at Target stores over the Wicked-themed Stanley cups.

“It’s… a cup,” wrote one TikTok user.

“The only thing that might make me act like this is if they were giving away gold bars for free. Otherwise, it's not that serious,” said another TikTok user.

“This reminds me of Christmas 1982 when the Cabbage Patch dolls were all the rage. This too shall pass,” wrote another user.

More Retail:

Stanley’s Wicked-themed cups are selling fast at Target locations and are currently sold out online.

Related: TikTok users double down on a major health concern involving Stanley cups

Chaos at Target over Stanley cups is nothing new. In January, shortly after Target released limited-edition Starbucks-themed Stanley cups for sale in its stores, they quickly sold out across the country, sparking long lines and fistfights at some locations. 

Resellers were even selling the cups online for hundreds of dollars, which was way above its original price of $49.95.

The latest wave of the Stanley cup craze comes after the drinkware brand faced backlash from consumers for manufacturing their Tumbler insulated cups with lead. Many consumers feared that the cups posed a lead exposure risk, which can be toxic to the human body.

“We seal our vacuum-insulated stainless steel products with an industry-standard pellet that includes some lead,” said Stanley in a statement. “The pellet is completely enclosed by a stainless-steel cover, making it inaccessible to consumers.”

Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks

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