Collecting Blue Cups
If there’s one thing that UNC has got down, it’s branding. Carolina blue can be seen all over campus, and there are so many traditions that are part of the UNC brand. Some locations on Franklin Street have done a great job taking advantage of the campus brand and incorporating it into their own branding, He’s Not Here is a prime example of this.
It’s a big deal to get your first Blue Cup from He’s Not Here, it was one of the places I made sure to go on my 21st birthday. Mostly called He’s Not by students, the bar is very popular on campus and has an atmosphere that keeps people wanting to come back. It’s typical for students to collect Blue Cups, and as a graduating senior I saw many of my friends realizing they had more cups at the end of the year than they knew what to do with as they tried to give some away to others before moving out.
Getting a Blue Cup gets people talking, I know if I ever have friends visiting from out of town a 32 oz cup of beer or cider usually gets them excited. The fact that they can also keep the cup as a little souvenir of the trip also keeps people talking about the bar. Last night I brought two of my friends to He’s Not for the first time, and it was so much fun getting their first Blue Cups with them.
He’s Not Here is a staple of Chapel Hill, and as an alum now I know it is somewhere that I will want to visit whenever I am back in Chapel Hill. I do have a small stash of Blue Cups that I kept for myself after moving out, but nothing hits the same as having a full cup of cider at their big tables outside surrounded by your friends.
