06/06/2026
In November 2016, Marc Carter from Devon, England, made a heartfelt appeal on Twitter after his 14-year-old son Ben, who has severe autism and is non-verbal, faced a life-threatening crisis.
Ben would exclusively drink from a specific, small, two-handled blue Tommee Tippee sippy cup that he had used since he was two years old.
Because the cup was rapidly wearing out and falling apart, the situation was incredibly urgent; Ben refused to drink from any other cup, a rigidity that had previously resulted in two emergency hospitalizations for severe dehydration.
The emotional online plea went viral under the hashtag - CupForBen, garnering tens of thousands of retweets and global media attention.
While kind-hearted people from all over the world checked their cupboards and offered to mail in similar cups, finding the exact match was difficult.
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Tommee Tippee stepped in to help.
The company’s dedicated teams across the UK, US, Australia, France, and Hong Kong combed through their old designs and storage archives trying to locate the discontinued model.
Ultimately, Tommee Tippee tracked down the original manufacturing mold in a factory in China, where it had sat unused for over a decade.
After bringing the mold out of retirement and rigorously testing it to confirm it met all modern food-safe standards, the company officially restarted the machinery for a dedicated production run.
They manufactured 500 identical blue cups specifically for Ben, delivering a lifetime supply that ensured his family would never have to worry about finding a replacement again.
This remarkable story remains a powerful example of how a simple viral plea can inspire worldwide kindness and profound corporate responsibility.