Some Target workers have been fired for using their status as employees to buy highly popular limited-edition Stanley mugs, according to Business Insider.
Earlier this year, Target sold a limited-edition “pink quencher” that was a collaboration between Starbucks and Stanley. The $45 cups sold out almost immediately, causing stampedes at several stores and were resold online for hundreds of dollars. Target has since announced they are not restocking the cups.
Araceli Bernal, who had worked at Target in Delaware for a little less than two years, told Business Insider she bought one of the quenchers from a barista at the store who set them aside. Days later, Bernal was fired. She told Business Insider several other co-workers were fired as well.
Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Target policy prohibits employees from using their status as employees “to gain an unfair advantage over guests when it comes to purchasing merchandise”, according to a company handbook obtained by Business Insider. It also says employees cannot be working when they buy Target merchandise and cannot buy items that are promotional or in high demand.
One user on X who said they were fired by Target for purchasing a cup said they were unaware that the item was high profile.
yeah appearantly it was "high profile" despite not making employees selling it aware of that fact
— Sunay👑 (@PrincessSunay) January 11, 2024
Bernal told the outlet she did not realize the barista may have set the quenchers aside for purchase. Business Insider also quoted other social media users who said they had been fired from Target for purchasing the item.
The Stanley quenchers have soared in popularity in recent years after going viral on TikTok.
The company was projected to make $750m in 2023, according to CNBC.
Another recent news story which illustrates Stanley cups’ popularity involved police in Roseville, California, arresting a woman on accusations that she stole 65 of them from a store – a value of about $2,500.
The woman allegedly loaded the cups on to a cart, wheeled them out without paying, and drove off with them in her car, the local news outlet KABC-TV reported. Police later pulled the woman over on a nearby highway, arrested her and quipped on social media: “While Stanley quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits.”
