Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Stanley cups are the most recent must-have item on TikTok. A new range of the now-viral cup brand was recently released, and as creators rush to promote the item, viewers are certainly getting influenced.
But with every must-have item is the opportunity for scams, and unfortunately, fake Stanley Cups are the latest dupe circulating on social media-based shopping platforms like TikTok Shop.
Yet, according to digital marketer Queen Tay (@queentayugc), content creators on TikTok are being unfairly banned due to the circulation of fake items. In a now-viral video, she accused the platform of “stealing” over $8,000 from her after she unwittingly promoted a fake Stanley Cup.
The full-time creator explained that she had a five-figure business through TikTok Shop. “All was going well up until today,” she said. “I woke up and found that I have a complete ban on my account, and all the money I earned this month was taken from me.”
Queen Tay, who claims to have collaborated with over 250 businesses before her ban, explained that she was “hit with a big red warning” on her TikTok and was told she had been banned from using e-commerce features for numerous account violations. However, Queen Tay says that before this ban, she only violated the terms and conditions once, and while she had other violations in the past, they were later successfully appealed.
The trouble began for Queen Tay when a brand reached out to her and asked if she’d like to be sent a Stanley cup, to which she agreed. Showing the cup to viewers, Tay pointed out that the item “came in the original Stanley box with all the logos.”
She continued, “I thought this was a Stanley, and it looks like a Stanley to me. I would never promote a fake product on purpose.”
“The videos I did on that cup are what got me banned, and that Stanley cup is the reason why I cannot access $8,000 now,” she said.
Queen Tay added that, initially, there wasn’t even an option to appeal the ban. She then showed fans the number of still-sealed products in her apartment and explained that while she gets sent many products, she doesn’t unbox or review all of them because some are lacking in quality.
“Some of the TikTok shop products are literally junk, and I think we need to start admitting that,” she said. She noted that while “there are some good brands,” shoppers could be duped by even seemingly reputable ones.
“They fooled me!” she continued. “I thought this was real, but turns out this is junk as well.”
According to the creator, the company that gave her the cup should be banned, not her. “I am literally just an individual, and I understand that mistakes happen,” she noted. “I’m willing to learn from this.”
This isn’t the first time fake Stanley Cups have caused trouble on TikTok. The Daily Dot recently reported on a content creator who ended up going viral after viewers couldn’t work out whether the Stanley Cup she bought was real or not.
Queen Tay and TikTok didn’t immediately respond to Daily Dot’s request for comment via email.
