The Red Solo Cup: An Icon in College Culture

If you go to any college party anywhere in the United States, you will undoubtedly drink from or see a red solo cup. The color of red illuminates the large crowds and projects the universal sign of, its time to party. But why has this cup become such a staple in college culture?

Some argue that we are conditioned from seeing the cups so often that we don’t see any other alternative for a drinking receptacle. We have been exposed to the cups so much that it’s almost as though we are brainwashed into buying them off the shelves.

Others say that it is because of the versatility of the cup that makes them so desirable. The red color hides any suspicion of what you’re drinking and the new and improved gripped sides allow for a non-slip cup when wet. These features appeal especially to the avid beer athlete, whether it be beer pong or flip cup.

The red cups have been glorified even more with the release of Toby Keith’s hit country song, “Red Solo Cup.”

Though these reasons do ring true, I think there is something else going on here with red solo cups. Going back to my first point, I think people are drawn to the cups for what they represent. If the floor of your apartment isn’t scattered with red solo cups the morning after a party, it almost feels as though the party has failed or just wasn’t that good.

It comes back to our human nature of wanting to fit in. When you walk into a party and everyone has a red solo cup in their hand, you rush to find one so you can fit in with the party and begin your consumption. No one wants to be “that guy” standing in the corner without a cup. The cups create an association with having a good time and fitting in with the cool crowd.

Even in my own experience, when I hear that we don’t have any cups as we begin the night, I almost feel depressed or anxious until someone runs out and gets some. It is strange phenomenon how a simple cup can evoke such emotion.

It seems as though people only drink out of a red solo cup when they are drinking at a party. The party culture has become so saturated with red solo cups that when we’re not at a party, we don’t even want to drink out of them.

It was just announced this March that Dart Container Corporation had bought Solo for an estimated $1 billion. Who would think that the plastic cup would be a billion dollar industry?

These red cups make up a staggering 60% of all of Solo’s sales.

So next time you go to a party and grab a red solo cup, ask yourself why you’re really drinking from that cup…

posted by Adam Okimatsu