In recent years, it appears that Americans have developed a peculiar obsession with fancy water bottles. In today's society, your average plastic water bottle won't cut it, and neither will one made of quality material unless it boasts a prestigious brand name.
Nowadays, you're practically a nobody if you're not toting around a $45 Stanley water bottle. That's correct; we've reached a point where your status is determined by the hydration vessel you choose. But $45 is just the starting point for a Stanley; if you truly want to stand out, you must indulge in the even more extravagant designer version known as "Watermelon Moonshine," currently priced at around $230.
From Market Watch:
Now, the brand’s bottles have gone from the utilitarian to the fashion conscious and come in a wide range of styles, sizes and colors. Do you want the Stanley X Pendleton Wildland Heroes Classic Bottle or the Stanley Watermelon Moonshine Quencher, created in partnership with country singer Lainey Wilson?
The latter “comes in a juicy pink watermelon hue with fresh green details,” according to a blog post from the Stanley team. Officials with the brand declined to comment for this story.
And, yes, the bottles cost $45 — at least for the much-in-demand 40-ounce Quencher variety. But that’s presuming you’re not buying one of the truly in demand bottles that can easily go for $100-plus on the resale market. That Watermelon Moonshine variety? It’s selling for $230 on StockX, a secondary-market platform.
At the end of the day, a water bottle is simply a vessel for holding water. The fact that there's a significant number of people in this country willing to shell out $230 for a bottle, while millions of Americans are grappling with the challenge of putting food on the table, truly speaks volumes about our current state as a nation.
It's astonishing that relentless consumerism is thrust upon us, all the while inflation is making it exceedingly tough to afford even basic necessities. It's akin to delivering a blow to someone who's already down.
