--- title: "Lawsuits Piling Up Against Stanley Cups Due to Lead Content" description: "The Stanley lead drama continues apace, and now, disgruntled buyers are taking the company to court for allegedly misleading them." date: "2024-02-22" modified: "2024-02-22" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/lawsuits-stanley-cups-lead" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "lead" - "lead poisoning" - "stanley cups" - "the digest" --- # Lawsuits Piling Up Against Stanley Cups Due to Lead Content ![The Stanley lead drama continues apace, and now, disgruntled buyers are taking the company to court for allegedly misleading them.]() *\Image: Justin Sullivan via Getty / Futurism\* ## Pedal to the Lead-al The [Stanley cup lead drama]() continues apace — and now, legal proceedings are underway. As [*HuffPost* reports](), there are at least three lawsuits targeting Pacific Market International (PMI), the company that's owned Stanley since 2002, related to recent revelations about the lead contents in the mug-maker's viral Quencher tumblers, which sell for $40 to 50 new. In the aftermath of an incredible holiday season that saw the company's colorful insulated travel mugs [selling out]() and even getting hawked for hundreds on the resale market, folks on social media began pointing out that commercial lead-testing equipment [seemed to indicate]() that Stanley cups contain the toxic element. The company was soon after forced to admit that yes, [its mugs do contain lead](), but users would only be exposed [if their cups are damaged](). All the same, the admission [milkshake ducked]() one of the biggest [viral consumer sensations]() in recent memory — and now, Stanley's being taken to court over it. Interestingly enough, all three of the lawsuits *HuffPost* listed were brought by women — a byproduct, no doubt, of what one *Guardian* columnist calls "[Stanley cup feminism]()" — who insist that the brand misled their demographic by failing to disclose that their products contain lead. "PMI’s primary target market is young professional women of childbearing age," one of the lawsuits, [filed by four women in California](), reads."PMI spends enormous sums to reach this market by paying influencers to advertise Stanley cups as safe, durable products." ## Influenced While it's unclear how Stanley compensates its affiliates, the company's rise in popularity is very much the product of influencers, well, [influencing](). Notably, it doesn't appear that many of the social media micro-celebs who hawked the 110-year-old company's wares have spoken out against it — though one, TikTok mommy vlogger Tori Halford, advised her followers last month to [throw out their mugs]() in a since-deleted post. In [another suit](), filed this time by a woman in Nevada, PMI was taken to task for its attempt to reassure its customers that they wouldn't be exposed to lead if their mugs weren't damaged, a statement that per the suit is "likely to mislead reasonable consumers, as it does not warn consumers about the potential for damage to the vacuum seal and does not disclose how much lead is present in each tumbler cup." To be clear, [lots and lots]() of consumer products contain lead, which is a pretty freaky happenstance despite [expert assurances]() that we're mostly safe from its toxicity. But the aforementioned suits, as well as [another in Washington state]() brought a disgruntled female customer, do bring up one huge outstanding question: beyond all the viral hype, how much tumbler damage does it take for Stanley cup users to be exposed? **More on consumer goods:** [*Amazon Is Selling Products With AI-Generated Names Like "I Cannot Fulfill This Request It Goes Against OpenAI Use Policy"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()