People flocked to Starbucks across the country in early November before the sun rose to get their hands on the most desirable holiday item the company has dropped in years — a glass “bearista” cup, akin to the plastic bear honey containers.

Most people failed to acquire the bear cup, even if they lined up in front of Starbucks before its 5 a.m. opening, which led to verbal and even physical fights. Some people turned to resellers, and the cups, which originally sold for $29.95, went for upwards of $500 on eBay. 

The bear cup is cute — but not cute enough to shell out hundreds of dollars to get your hands on one, nor to harass Starbucks employees for buying one before you had the chance to. It’s not even worth waking up before dawn and standing out in the cold. The proof is in the fact that it’s been less than two months since the drop, and this is probably the first time you’re hearing about the bear cup again. 

And yet, Starbucks managed to convince so many people that the bearista cup was worth all of that. It created a product that perfectly appealed to people susceptible to consumerist culture. 

It was holiday-themed, limited edition, cute and childlike — an aesthetic that’s become popular along with Labubus and Sonny Angels — and you can drink out of it. If anything was learned from the Hydroflask, Stanley and Owala crazes, it’s that there’s nothing people want more of than something you only need one of!

Now, bearista cups are sitting sadly in the back of people’s cabinets, making fewer appearances in the outside world as people get less satisfaction from showing them off and grow tired of how poorly they fit in their cupholders. But someone, somewhere, is cooking up a new craze for everyone to waste their money on. 

We have all fallen victim to trends, whether it’s spending $15 on a Dubai chocolate bar or going to Starbucks instead of your usual coffee shop just to get your hands on this year’s red cup. Wasting your own money on overpriced junk feels justifiable, and it seems harmless enough. But it’s a lot more damaging than one might think. 

Overconsumption has been increasing over the past few decades. Although this isn’t directly the fault of temporary fads, they have created a materialist and consumerist culture that leads to people buying more than they need. Even if we don’t immediately throw away something that isn’t trendy anymore, it will end up in the trash eventually, and only encourages corporations to keep producing more landfill-destined junk. 

The effects of overconsumption on the environment are vast, as it causes deforestation, water scarcity, air pollution and habitat destruction. People buying just one of a viral item aren’t as much of a problem as those who are collecting multiples of them, but we also can’t use “I only bought one” as an excuse when it’s one of nearly every new trend.

This isn’t to say people shouldn’t treat themselves every now and then and should only buy the bare essentials. But people should learn to limit themselves and purchase things that will remain valuable for longer than the span of a social media trend.

There’s also the fact that overconsumerism leads to people eating right out of the hands of corporations that many are boycotting because of poor working conditions, rolling back DEI policies and price gouging, amongst other things.  

Boycotts are working, but companies are still fighting back by appealing to our mindless desire to purchase the new status symbol — products that are hard to come by because they are stocked poorly and sell out quickly. 

Companies are fueling people’s desire to find viral products by creating unattainability that people conflate with value, turning many of us into puppets of capitalism that will keep buying products despite how the companies affect their employees, the public and the planet. 

Those of us who have fallen for the latest trend aren’t as guilty as the corporations that have sunk their claws into us. We are victims of capitalism, of corporations, of social media trends and of a manufactured need for things that we often don’t want. Things that we, at least, wouldn’t want if it weren’t for popularity, rarity and the specially-constructed combination of the two that leads to people paying hundreds of dollars for things of little value. 

But blaming corporations and continuing with the same habits won’t fix the problem, because we are perpetrators as much as we are victims. We need to remember what we like, not what social media and companies tell us we like. 

We need to buy products and express ourselves with what makes us unique as individuals and refocus our spending habits, so we’re choosing to buy things that will last, both in their literal durability and in the usefulness they have for the purchaser. 

So, instead of going to McDonald’s for the third time trying to get the always-sold-out Grinch meal, buy some decent socks for the same price that you’ll still be wearing in 2026. 

Makenna is a junior in LAS.

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