Stanley's product recently survived a car fire.
The lesson was clear—Stanley tumblers still keep drinks icy cold even amid the most fiery of circumstances. Yet the drinkware company’s quick response to a customer’s viral video this week provided another lesson about the brand value and power of speedy social media marketing.
Earlier this week, a woman posted a TikTok video about her Kia car catching fire, but the Stanley in the cupholder retained its ice, despite the burnt-up vehicle interior surrounding it.
“Everybody’s so concerned about if the Stanley spills, but what about the melts? There was a fire yesterday and it still has ice in it,” said TikTok user @danimarielettering in the Wednesday video, which attracted 3.5 million views, 31,300 comments and reposts on X.
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Within hours, Stanley had its own response complete with an Oprah-like giveaway just in time for the holiday season. President Terence Reilly took to TikTok to directly message the customer, Danielle.
“We’ve all seen your video and wow what an ordeal and we’re all really glad you’re safe. It shows how Stanley, our Stanleys, are built for life,” he said in the near-minute-long clip. “I’ve seen a lot of comments that we should send you some Stanleys, well we’re going to send you some Stanleys, but here’s one more thing. We’ve never done this before—and we’ll probably never do this again—but we’d love to replace your vehicle,” he added, advising Danielle to check her DMs.
The post immediately took off and generated 21,000 comments and 1.1 million likes on TikTok within 16 hours. Many users touted Stanley’s response. “Dannggg Stanley taking it home! Great marketing. Great response. Bravooooo,” wrote user @castillo507.
In August, Stanley hired Austin-based GSD&M as its TikTok agency to oversee strategy and content creation. But Stanley’s response video was created in-house with a social team of one, a spokeswoman said. Reilly filmed the video at Stanley’s Seattle headquarters on Thursday.
The company declined to say if the car would be another Kia or a different brand but said it is working with Danielle on the replacement.
After overhauling its image a few years ago away from the outdoors to more of a lifestyle brand, Stanley has become a Gen Z status symbol, its pastel “Quencher” tumblers in the grasp of well-known influencers and affluent middle schoolers alike. Founded more than a century ago, Stanley is now enjoying massive popularity with both Gen Z and the younger Gen Alpha cohort, as it continually taps into the power of influencers and social media to further its dominance. The brand has seen a 275% year-over-year increase in sales of its Quencher product, a spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
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Stanley is not the only brand whose nimble social media response to a viral video resulted in more customer appreciation for the brand. Even before TikTok’s rise, marketers recognized the potential of going viral—in 2016, for example, Kohl’s created its own video response to a Facebook post from “Chewbacca mom.”
