Melody Hahm

Why the red Solo cup epitomizes everything that is American

Melody Hahm

Sat, Jul 2, 2016, 8:30 AM

Americans will hit the road this Fourth of July weekend, spending time with family at the beach or chowing down on watermelon at backyard picnics. And there’s one friendly American favorite that will be a fixture at our parties this weekend: the red Solo cup.

The now-ubiquitous Solo cup has become synonymous with America, parties, hangouts at the beach, picnics, and beer, among other party-related shenanigans, according to a straw poll Yahoo Finance conducted in Times Square (see video above).

The Solo Cup Company introduced the red plastic cup to the world in the 1970s. It got a makeover in 2004 when the cup added two grips. Then, in 2009, the company redesigned the cup to “Solo Squared” — the cup that we know and love today — which has a square base and four ergonomic grips “ensuring a more comfortable and reliable hold.”

The country love song

Country artist Toby Keith released his single “Red Solo Cup” in October 2011, paying homage to the plastic receptacle. Here are the lyrics of a verse: “Red solo cup, I fill you up, let’s have a party, let’s have a party. I love you red solo cup, I lift you up, proceed to party, proceed to party, Red solo cup, you’re more than just plastic, more than amazing, you’re more than fantastic. And believe me that I’m not the least bit sarcastic, when I look at you and say: “Red solo cup, you’re not just a cup you’re my friend, yea, thank you for being my friend.”

Keith couldn’t have orchestrated better promotional timing for the Solo Cup Company, which was acquired by its top competitor, Dart Container Corporation, for $1 billion in May 2012. The song essentially became free — and unexpected — marketing for the cup.

“On the run-up to the acquisition, Toby Keith had come out with the song which was his own creative endeavor. That definitely gave us a marketing push we couldn’t have planned,” Jim Lammers, president of the Dart Corporation, told Yahoo Finance.

Lammers said the company did not have any conversations with Keith or his team before the song came out. And though Lammers would not disclose whether the song made an impact on the cups’ sales, he says consumers have always associated the brand with happiness.

“It’s a high-quality product that people can trust and it’s commonly used at parties, picnics and other celebrations where folks are in a social environment where they’re having fun with friends and family,” he says. “The more you have those experiences, the more you associate the cup with happy times.” Moreover, Lammers said, the cup’s red color makes people think of passion and energy.

“The solo cup is an American phenomenon”

Solo’s parent company, Mason, Mich.-based Dart Container, manufactures all of its products in the US. Dart exports it only to select international locations — including Canada, the UK, Australia, South America and Central America.

Lammers says the Solo Cup is indeed an American phenomenon. Currently, the company sells the most red Solo cups in the month of December, though the summer barbeque season (between May and August) is the cup’s top-selling season.

He says the company hasn’t made any additional changes since acquiring Solo Cup Company.

“There’s no need to fix something that’s not broken. The product has worked very well for us, but I wouldn’t say that there will never be changes in the future,” Lammers says.

Similar to referring to any old tissue as “Kleenex” (a Kimberly-Clark’s (KMB) brand), the Solo cup has become the colloquial way to refer to any red cup. But Lammers says copycats don’t concern him.

“They’re not really infringing on our design — so it’s just a reality that there are some other people making somewhat similar products,” he said, “and they certainly have the right to do that.”

Here are a few of the brands that have imitated the red Solo cup:

Walgreens’ (WBA) Nice! brand “Heavy Duty Party Cups”