Insights

More Than Just A Cup: Kids’ Cups Build Brands While Preventing Spills

More Than Just A Cup: Kids’ Cups Build Brands While Preventing Spills

From the C3 dictionary:

Kids’ Cup, Noun

  • A perfectly kid-sized drinking vessel used by casual dining, fast casual and QSR brands to make families happy.
    • Includes a lid that prevents spills
    • Features branded and kid-friendly design
  • e.g., A plastic kids’ cup is washable, reusable and easy to take on-the-go!

How Kids’ Cups Benefit Families

Kids’ cups with lids are restaurant must-haves. Families don’t just want them, they expect them! In a recent survey of parents, 85% told us they expect their kids to receive kids’ cups at casual dining restaurants, and 79% of parents expect them at QSRs. Why are these little cups such a big deal? Here’s what parents told us:

  1. They prevent messy spills
  2. They’re easy to take to-go
  3. They’re just the right size for kids’ portions
  4. They give kids a special cup just for them, with fun kid-friendly designs
  5. They come with a bendy straw, which is easier for kids to drink from
  6. They can be taken home, washed and reused

Every detail counts when it comes to delivering a great family experience. C3 provides restaurant brands with beautifully designed and brand-tailored kids’ cups with lids that snap on and, most importantly, stay put—because we know how a spill at the table or in the car can put a real damper on a family’s fun restaurant outing! We also know that kids’ cups need to be sturdy so kids of all levels of motor skills can handle them without squishing them. In addition, we always recommend that kids’ straw cups be accompanied by bendy straws which provide the perfect drinking angle for kids’ height and dexterity.

Kids’ cups are part of a best-in-class kids’ program. Activity Books, Crayons and Cups—what we call the Casual Dining Trifecta—ensure that restaurant brands feel welcoming and fun for families, and as a consequence, families have consistently told us that they come to expect all three when they go out to eat. This combination of products speaks volumes to parents when it comes to demonstrating that your brand really understands their family.

Kids’ cups have a role to play in QSRs as well, where the drive-through experience is paramount. And that’s nothing new—according NPD, even pre-Covid, 69% of family visits to QSRs were for off-premises dining (most of which was drive-through traffic). Kid-sized drinks in cups that won’t spill are critical for families on the go.

How Kids’ Cups Benefit Brands

Beyond simply meeting families’ expectations and walking the kid-friendliness walk to keep them coming back, kids’ cups can provide an important opportunity to build your own brand.

The possibilities are endless:

  • They can be an extra messaging channel for your brand voice & personality
  • They’re an opportunity to provide kids & family entertainment with characters or activities
  • They’re an additional platform for brand or promotional messaging
  • They can be a gateway to special digital entertainment
  • They allow your brand to travel off-premises with families, and even live on at home, since they’re often washable and reusable.

A thoughtfully designed kids’ cup can help your brand stand out. Here are examples of a few we’ve created, and what each one is able to bring to the table:

Red Lobster’s kids’ cup is thermoformed of 100% recyclable materials, the best-in-class option for sustainability. Thermoform utilizes a thin-walled construction that minimizes materials and costs. Plus, the cup provides play value with a counting game built right into the design!

A white plastic kids’ cup with a bright red lid featuring a playful under-the-sea design. The artwork includes a smiling red crab, fish, seaweed, bubbles, and a cartoon lobster above the bold text 'LOBSTER SCOUTS.' Beneath the logo, the phrase 'Can you spot all 5 crabs?' invites children to play a spotting game as they use the cup. The design is colorful, fun, and interactive, encouraging engagement while dining.
A kids’ cup with a red lid and colorful camouflage-style background in shades of teal, blue, red, and gold. The front features bold text that reads 'SEE WHAT’S NEW IN THE Raising Cane’s Arcade! DOWNLOAD THE APP!' Below the message is the Raising Cane’s logo with a cartoon yellow dog wearing black sunglasses inside a red square. The design promotes the brand’s interactive arcade app while keeping a playful, child-friendly appearance.

Our client Raising Cane’s uses kids’ cups for many things—from their famous iced tea and lemonade, to messaging about community causes they support, to advertising their arcade-style app, which extends the kids’ experience into the digital realm, strengthening their connection with the brand. In addition, Raising Cane’s uses injection-molded cups, which are best-in-class for quality. They are sturdy, reusable time and time again and top-rack dishwasher safe, so the brand lives on at home for months or even years.  

This fun-filled cup has an even more direct path to the digital space. It includes a QR code that takes the consumer directly to a web page populated with the most up-to-date brand messages, from messaging about charitable or sustainability efforts to the latest online family entertainment.

A cheerful yellow kids’ cup with a clear plastic lid, decorated with playful white line art illustrations including a kite, stars, clouds, hearts, and doodle-style shapes. Scattered colorful dots add extra vibrancy. The cup features a blue QR code on the front with text that reads 'Scan me for more fun!' along with the words 'YUM' and 'DRINK' integrated into the design, making it both interactive and engaging for children.
A fun, kid-friendly plastic cup with a clear dome-style lid. The cup features playful cartoon illustrations, including a teal robot with red accents, a smiling red sun, blue rain clouds with faces, musical notes, and lightning bolts. The background is white with teal dash marks resembling raindrops. The overall design is whimsical and imaginative, encouraging creativity and fun during mealtime.

Our C3 Signature cups, designed for independent restaurants, include strawless, spill-proof lids. These innovative lids meet parental demand for a solution to mealtime beverage spills, while also helping to answer the environmental call for plastic straws to be phased out.

Bottom line: kids’ cups can do it all—hold a drink, build your brand, make a kid smile, and keep families coming back.

Ready to discuss how a custom kids’ cup can help your brand? Contact us!

Contact Us

About C3

C3 is an industry-leading design and brand marketing agency with more than 38 years of experience creating connections with customers, from families with children to Gen Zers. We provide insights, strategy, creativity and supply-chain expertise to build smart marketing programs around fully custom products, like kids’ meal toys, collectibles and other branded entertainment. We design and produce brand experiences you can touch — and that’s more powerful than a marketing message alone. A C3 product ignites a moment of joy and creates brand loyalty that lasts.