Bored Panda managed to get in touch with the creator of the 'S**te Mugs' Instagram account. They preferred to stay anonymous but were kind enough to have a friendly chat about their page and the inspiration behind it. They started this social media project in March 2019 as a means to poke fun at silly cup designs. Ever since then, they have been sharing countless photos of ridiculous mugs found at work and amassing like-minded people eager to become a part of their community.
"We all find ourselves squirreling around in the kitchenette cupboard at work, mindlessly looking for a suitable mug, hoping that you don’t have to make conversation with anyone. At all. Just get your coffee and get outta there," the founder told us how they got the idea to launch this page. "But wait. I can’t use this monstrosity, I just can’t. It’s a Peter Andre mug. Ripped muscles, impossibly shiny torso. The mug says 'Judy.'"
They felt grossed out, repulsed, and disgusted by simply looking at the cup, so they put it back. Only to pick up another monstrosity that immediately added more fuel to their nightmares. "OK, what’s this… This one is sickly pink and says: 'THIS *KEEPS* STACEY GOING UNTIL IT’S ACCEPTABLE *TO DRINK* Prosecco.'" And this is how it all started — their obsession with weird, ridiculous, and downright awful mugs.
It’s no secret that the product design industry is forever changing, and we humans have gotten pretty used to well-thought-out things. After all, companies and designers put in their time, money, and effort to bring these items to the shelves and, consequently, into our lives. So we expect them to meet us with quality and value, right? Well, even though they were created to satisfy a specific need in the market, the examples in this list prove that sometimes they miss the mark by a long shot.
When the creator of this account stood and stared at these baffling atrocities, they wondered how these "creations" ended up in the kitchen cupboards at their workplace. "Who buys them? Who buys them for others? This is not OK," they told us. "I mull it over. And I start to spot them… everywhere."
To get to the bottom of these very fine questions, they had to first categorize their awfulness. According to them, one common group is cups that are desperately alluding to how "fun" people want to be seen outside of the office. For example, "Gym? I thought you said GIN" or "This job reminds me I NEED a glass of wine."
Another frequent category that really grinds their gears is where mugs indicate that come Friday, there is excitement everywhere, and your life is enriched with unquenchable excitement right away. Cups that represent this category usually state: "I might look like I'm listening to you, but in my head, I'm playing golf." And let’s not forget the mugs that reflect the painful passivity that comes with work, reminding us that we’re all unwitting drones to the social construct we call "the week", they added. "Is it Friday yet?" or "Why is Monday so far from Friday but Friday so close to Monday?" are just a few cringe-inducing examples of that.
According to the creator, these terrible mugs represent the absolute futility of many jobs we do and the position we find ourselves in. "Innocuous. Disposable. Expendable. But, when I find myself alone in the beige work kitchen with the Wickes dapple-slate laminate, piles of mixed, almost translucent side plates, piles of knives, no forks and I come across absolute bollocks like this — I chuckle heartily to myself," they told us. "Slagging off the awful-mug scene cheers me up immensely."
"And it seems to strike a chord with others too," the creator added. They revealed that they love receiving submissions from their followers. "It gives me a buzz to know that fellow like-minded mug-spotting enthusiasts have come across some absolute hackneyed trite and have been riled enough to ping me."
The account also serves as a creative outlet since the curator of the page revels in making up "bonkers" stories to go with the ridiculous pictures. One such post that has caught the attention of many showcases an extremely tragic mug and a made-up story about "Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb from The Bee Gees". Ever since the post went up, they have been receiving messages from earnest fans that question the creator’s "facts". "Or finding Anne Boleyn’s mug and hatching a preposterous tale around it, then getting likes from @tudorhistory accounts," they added.
"In most cases, the terrible mug offers a glimpse into the soul. They are, at times, strangely intimate. We cling to them, creatures of habit, they offer a comforting constancy against the chaotic monotony of work. We develop an emotional attachment to them. Our fondness for them goes far beyond any objective value. They make us feel safe on an unconscious level. If somebody takes your mug, it’s unnerving, devastating even," they told us.
