Starbucks Cups Are Making People Lose Their Minds… AGAIN

[00:00:00]Oh my god, >> it's currently 1:30 a.m. and baby, I am back at Starbucks. Come get the new Starbucks cup at 12:00 a.m.

[00:00:06]>> I just wish we had this same energy and excitement for other things that actually matter.

[00:00:10]>> Starbucks just made a horrible mistake by bringing back the barista cup because it's causing chaos.

[00:00:18]>> Just get out.

[00:00:19]>> Sorry, >> that's real. That's not a movie trailer.

[00:00:23]That's people this week over a cup. A cup. So, Starbucks released a pink cup and within 24 hours there was a fight.

[00:00:32]The police got called. Someone listed it online for $24,000 for a cup that cost $33 in store. I need you to sit with that math for a second because we're about to get into all of it. The chaos, the resellers, the parents bringing their kids out to camp out for this, the boycott, everyone conveniently forgot about all of it.

[00:00:53]Don't forget to subscribe because trust me, this gets so much worse than you think. Let's get into it. Now, before anyone comes for me, I get it. I like fun things, too. I am not saying you're a bad person for wanting a cup. But I do think there's a moment where I want something fun turns into something else entirely. And I think this cup is a really good case study for where that line is. Now, quick rewind. So, this all makes sense. This traces back to 2016.

[00:01:19]Customers basically invented the pink drink themselves, mixing menu items together, posting it online, and it blew up before Starbucks even had it on the menu. Starbucks saw the numbers and made it official in 2017. Fast forward to last holiday season. Starbucks releases a beer-shaped glass cup called the Beerista, which honestly that is such a clever name. It sells out everywhere in hours. People are camping out, fighting, calling the cops, reselling it online for insane money. What do you mean grown adults are getting in fights over these Starbucks bear cup? People are showing up to Starbucks at 4 in the morning and camping out just to get their hands on this Starbucks teddy bear cup where the insanely long lines to buy these teddy bear cups were chaotic. Grown adults were getting in fights.

[00:02:01]>> Starbucks actually had to publicly apologize over how badly it went. And instead of that being a lesson learned, Starbucks looked at the entire mess and thought, "Yeah, we're doing that again."

[00:02:12]So this summer they bring the beer star back. It is pink this time. tied to the pink drink. Same formula, same insanity, except now they know exactly what they're doing. This whole thing came with an entire pink universe around it.

[00:02:26]It has hearts, hair clips, water bottles, this whole matching aesthetic, and they know this is going to get a lot of people. Okay, I'll give it to them with the whole marketing strategy.

[00:02:40]It's the barista. It's a pink barista.

[00:02:43]The matching hat. Oh my god. Absolutely perfect. The little Starbucks and the Look at this beautiful water bottle. I mean, this looks just like a little pink drink. And this pouch, little wristlet, and it has a strawberry in Oh.

[00:03:01]Oh, wait. Why is this like so cute? A strawberry summer. And last but not least, we have the >> Be careful with glass.

[00:03:09]>> For some reason, >> I don't know why in the videos and stuff it literally looks like plastic.

[00:03:15]Bro, let's put it [music] together.

[00:03:21]>> What the heck? This is actually so cute.

[00:03:23]And I love how there's a topper because, you know, just [music] air just having it dirty, right? This is retailing over $30.

[00:03:29]>> Now, let's start with the actual timeline because this is actually where it gets unhinged. People were showing up before sunrise. Some stores had lines before the employees even arrived to open up. The cops sold out in select stores by 7:00 a.m. nationwide. Who else is camping for the Starbucks Pink Teddy Bear Cup?

[00:03:49]>> Okay, [music] guys. It's currently 1:43 in the morning and I am going to go to Starbucks to try to get the Bear Cup [music] just for the plot. Honestly, >> I was not originally planning on getting up this early, but I'm part of some like Starbucks groups and literally like everyone in the group is talking about camping out right now.

[00:04:20]And I seriously like debated if it was worth it to still go out and get this, but like I want that cup so bad.

[00:04:30]Hi guys. So, happy launch day. I am here at Starbucks.

[00:04:35]So, hoping to secure a pink bear cup.

[00:04:39]Right now, it is 2:30 in the morning. I know. This is like low key kind of crazy to come to Starbucks that early cuz they're like, "Bitch, there's no one here." And I'm like, "You're right.

[00:04:49]There is no one here. And yes, it is that serious cuz they don't want to be cooked.

[00:04:52]>> And here's the part that explains a lot of this chaos. Starbucks puts a two cup limit per customer on this thing. So even if you show up by 1:00 a.m., even before the store opens, you're not walking away with a stash of cups. You are capped at just two. And it's not a come back next week situation either.

[00:05:09]Starbucks confirmed their zero restock plans. So when it's gone from your store, it's gone forever. And that's not an accident. That's the entire strategy.

[00:05:18]If this cup was just sitting on a shelf all month, nobody would be losing sleep over it. Nobody camps out for something they know will still be there tomorrow.

[00:05:26]It's the you might never get a shot at this feeling that makes people set an alarm for 1:00 a.m. Scarcity is the whole marketing plan here, not a side effect of it. Got the portal party again wipe hand sanitizer.

[00:05:47]You already know where I'm at.

[00:05:50]>> Starbucks. There's only two people here.

[00:05:53]>> Cuz one thing I don't play about is a glass bear cup from Starbucks. Okay. I am the first one in line after the last barista drop. I am not playing any games. Now imagine waking up at 2:00 in the morning, not to go vote, not to go protest something that actually affects your life. to stand outside of Starbucks just so you can hold a Starbucks cup before your coworker does. People have done this every single time Starbucks drops one of these. You would think by round four people would have learned their lesson. They have not.

[00:06:26]>> Come get the new Starbucks cup at 12:00 a.m. I literally slept through my alarm last time, so I had to wake up early.

[00:06:31][music] My boyfriend and I were the first in line. We set up our chairs and picked up Jack in the Box before we came. This location was so empty, there was no one. There was another Starbucks we checked before coming here, and that one had a line. 3 hours later, someone else arrived. I ended up sleeping and woke up just in time for opening. It is currently 1:30 a.m. and baby, I am back at Starbucks for the pink barista cups that are dropping today. Starbucks is not opening up till 5:00 a.m. So, we got about 4 so hours to just sit out here and chill, but we are the first people in line. The amount of dedication people put into a cup that could break, by the way, if you drop it is actually so crazy to me. Could you do this for voting next? I mean, she's not wrong. Why can't we camp out at the polls like this?

[00:07:10]Genuinely, if we had this kind of turnout for something that actually mattered. We'd actually be unstoppable.

[00:07:16]Like, think about it. I pray I never reach this stage of unemployment. Okay, that one's a little mean, but I understand where it's coming from, >> bro. I was here before.

[00:07:25]>> No, you don't. You know you're being >> He's trying to get my car. Excuse me.

[00:07:38]They're not going to buy yourself.

[00:07:43]>> Yeah. Can I pay cash for one, please?

[00:07:46]>> Like, we were in line, too.

[00:07:50]>> Okay. Okay. Actually, >> can I pay cash?

[00:07:53]>> Just get out.

[00:07:54]>> Sorry.

[00:07:54]>> Just go.

[00:07:56]>> Just go.

[00:07:57]>> Everyone back up the store.

[00:08:00][ __ ] you, [ __ ] I got my cup and everything.

[00:08:04]What?

[00:08:04]>> I got my cup.

[00:08:12]>> Now, I need you to actually sit with that one. Grown adults fighting, screaming over a cup. At what point did collectible drink wear become what?

[00:08:22]Risking a fight.

[00:08:23]>> These are grown adults acting like that all over a pink Starbucks teddy bear cup. a cup that looks like a teddy bear.

[00:08:29]And they're acting like that because it's limited edition. But it's funny because on Amazon you can find one that looks exactly like it for $10. The only difference is it doesn't have the Starbucks logo. I've seen videos of people camping out overnight at Starbucks. People literally lining up at 9:30 at night so they can be first in line at like 4:30 or 5 in the morning just to get a damn cup.

[00:08:46]>> This is what people were fighting over in a Starbucks. Are we for view right now? It's aing cop. Yeah, that's genuinely all there is to say about it.

[00:08:55]It is just a cup. You can get the same cup at Target. You can get the same cup on Amazon. And honestly, where there's chaos, there is a hustle right behind it. Within hours of this thing selling out, it was already on eBay. Some listings were going for a few hundred.

[00:09:09]One listing, and I promise I am not exaggerating, was posted for $34,000 for the same cup you could have paid $33 for in store if you were willing to lose sleep over it. Now, realistically, nobody's paying $35 grand for a cup.

[00:09:26]That's just Ridgebait pricing. It's there to get attention. But even the normal resale price, $200, $300, that's still 10 times my cup. And to the people that went to Starbucks, lined up for the barista glass cup with no intention of really wanting it only to sell it on eBay or Mccari, you're scum. You're scum. So many people have listed those glass barista cups on Mccuri for like $1 to $150.

[00:09:55]It is so ridiculous. I honestly think they should have went ahead and made the limit everywhere for one because regular standalone Starbucks let you get two a piece. People were bringing their husbands, their mothers. Pretty much households were able to score way more than two cups because they brought more people. There were so many people that actually wanted those glass bear cups that missed out. And literally right now, the price is ridiculous. I'm hoping that at some point Starbucks really gets a hold of this because any limited edition item, especially those cups now are absolutely a problem. That's a whole side hustle now. Wake up early, stand in line, resell a beer cup, repeat. And people online have been speculating how many of these cups each store gets. Some people say that each store gets about 24. Some say they get about 10.

[00:10:50]>> They only had eight. Tried buying two.

[00:10:52]One for my friend, but she said I could only buy one.

[00:10:54]>> Initially, the rumor was that they were going to have 24 cups per location, but then it changed to 10 cups per location, which seems more accurate because when I look through the window, I'm only seeing 10 cups. They're literally trying to really lean into the whole scarcity, the whole limited availability thing so people can go crazier over these things.

[00:11:13]Now, of course, not everyone thinks this is cute and fun. Some people think this is just outrageous. The fact that people are standing in line fighting over a beer cup, making such a huge deal about something that doesn't even make sense.

[00:11:26]People are pointing out that these things are made of plastic and glass and would eventually end up in a landfill in about 6 months. I am 100% convinced that the people that go to Starbucks to buy a bear cup, they fight over it, pay $30 in this economy, they probably can't feed their own family. There is some sort of psychology behind these people. I think these people have zero personality and they will do anything that they are told to do.

[00:11:51]>> What do you mean that grown women are waiting in line for 2 hours in the morning to go buy a Starbucks teddy bear cup at 8:00 in the morning? Our overconsumerism in America is so embarrassing. Like why why are grown women fighting over a cup? Why do you even want the cup? Why do you even want the cup? And then there's the part that actually made me pause. People taking their kids to go stand in these lines.

[00:12:17]Now, I get it. If your kid wants this, if it's going to make them happy, you're just trying to be a good parent. I get it. But when you're teaching your 5-year-old that the way to spend your Saturday morning is chasing the next limited drop before it sells out, what exactly is that teaching them in the long run? That's not really about the cup anymore. That's a whole worldwide view you're handing down to them before they can even read. Okay, so here's the part I actually think is the most interesting and nobody's even talking about it. A huge chunk of why this keeps happening isn't even about the cop anymore. It's just content. Think about it. A video of someone waking up at 1:00 a.m. to wait outside Starbucks is genuinely a good hook. You want to know if they got it or not. Did they wait for nothing? Did they get the one? Did somebody take it at the last second?

[00:13:04]That's a built-in cliff anger and the creators know it. So now you've got people who don't even really want the cup. They want the video of themselves trying to get the cup. The cup is basically a prop at this point.

[00:13:17]Starbucks gets free marketing, creators gets views, and somewhere in the middle, an actual $33 cup is the excuse for the whole thing. Is it cute or is it Starbucks? Honestly, probably both.

[00:13:29]That's kind of the whole point. Would people go crazy over this cup if it was just a regular unbranded cup you would get from Target? No. Okay, this is the part I really want to sit on. Go on Tik Tok right now and search Starbucks cup collection. You will find people with shelves, actual shelves, floor to ceiling of Starbucks cup. Some of these people already have 10, 15 of these cups sitting at home and they're still waking up early for the next one.

[00:13:56]>> Today, I'm sitting on my kitchen counter to tell y'all about my addiction. My cup addiction. I've been collecting since I was 13 years old. I match it to my outfit every single day because we do have an entire other shelf over there.

[00:14:06]And I do have a couple more back home in Michigan, but this is everything I have here in Louisiana. So, let me show y'all um like today's outfit like when I have something like this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[00:14:17]At what point is it not about the cup anymore and just about wanting more?

[00:14:21]Because I don't think anyone needs about 15 cups. I don't think anyone's rotating between 15 cups in a week. Most of these are just sitting in a cabinet collecting dust. They never touched. They just there just so you can say I have an entire collection of Starbucks cup. For what reason exactly?

[00:14:39]>> Oh, collector check. Show the most expensive item in your collection, the least expensive item in your collection, the item everyone wants to steal when they see your collection, the item that's least likely to be had by any other collector, your first item in your collection. This is exactly what I mean when I say is turned into consumerism as a personality trait. It's not like I like this cup. It's I need to have every version of this cup that exists whether or not I'll use it. And brands love that obviously because that's a customer that will keep buying, not just a customer that will buy one. Okay? They'll keep buying every time a new one drops. They look like Five Below Cups. Now, it's going to sit on the counter for weeks just like the last one and you will forget about it in 6 days. And this is the part that really gets me. There have been actual boycots against Starbucks view ones over view issues people said they cared about. TSA for all the giries and the men out there in Chicago and around the country who are crossing a picket line to go to Starbucks instead of supporting the workers who are on strike. You're very weird.

[00:15:48]>> I could have sworn we were boycotting Starbucks. What happened to the boycott?

[00:15:52]>> Why is everybody back at Starbucks? I'm seeing so many posts of people with their little coffees, with their little Starbucks in hand, like doing whatever.

[00:15:59]>> The CEO of Starbucks makes 6,666 times what a barista makes. And the second a pink beer cup drops lines around the block. Nobody is thinking about the boycott anymore. Now, I'm not saying anyone has to boycott anything.

[00:16:13]That's not my business. But it's funny and a little telling how fast I'm never giving Starbucks my money again. Turns into Wait, um, is the pink one back? You all still buying Starbucks? Tragic, really. Okay, last thing. And this one is just a rumor. It hasn't been publicly announced. It is not official yet, but there's been a chatter online about Starbucks possibly getting into squishies.

[00:16:36]>> Starbucks just made a horrible mistake by bringing back the barista cup because it's causing chaos all over again. If you guys don't remember, Starbucks came out with their first barista cup in 2025, and people were literally fighting over it. And for some reason, Starbucks thought it would be a good idea to bring it back, but change it to a strawberry version. Now, everyone is wondering if Starbucks wants this chaos because there's even rumors of them coming out with squishies. This would literally cause World War II at every Starbucks because the entire community is in love with squishies. Whether or not it's actually true, it tells you something either way. Brands are watching what makes people go feral online. And squishy cute collectible things are clearly the formula right now. And if they do drop a Starbucks squishy, I already know what's coming. Lines, fights, resellers, the exact same movie, different toy. So, here's where we're at. A coffee chain figured out that if you make something scar enough and cute enough, people will skip sleep, skip work, sometimes skip their own morals about the brand just to have it. And it works every single time. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with having something fun. I already said that at the beginning of this video, and I mean it. But it's worth asking yourself, is this fun or is this just chasing the feeling of winning something or chasing the feeling of not being left out?

[00:17:47]Because those aren't the same thing. So, tell me honestly in the comments, would you wake up at 1:00 a.m. for this? And if you already have one, how many of these cups do you own right now? If you made it this far, do me a favor, hit subscribe. Drop a like if you think this was worth your time. It genuinely helps the channel more than you think. And thank you guys so much for watching.

[00:18:05]I'll talk to you guys in the next one.