...but it's just a robe backwards?

If you can't tell from the title this blog post is about the Snuggie. I was cleaning today and I found the box for my dog's Snuggie (Yes, I bought my dog a snuggie. In my defense, he's pushing 4 pounds and gets cold easily so I thought it would help). This got me thinking.

Why did the Snuggie blow up like it did? According to the NY Times they sold 5 million in the first year! There were predecessors such as the Slanket or the Freedom Blanket. These glorified robes didn't have nearly the sales of the Snuggie. The Snuggie is a huge success. There are now Designer Snuggies, Couples Snuggies, Collegiate Prints, Snuggies for Kids, Snuggies for Dogs and more. There are even Snuggie Pub Crawls! But Why?!

I can't tell you the exact reason but I can tell you what I think was the most important factor: Humor.

I can't stand to watch that commercial again but if you have been living under a rock you can watch it here.

We all know about branding.

Most companies want to be taken seriously and take measures to ensure that the public understands the perfectly crafted image of their company. Snuggie knew they were ridiculous (They did put a video of an old lady knitting in the commercial). One of the lines in the commercial is "Blankets are okay but they can slip and slide, and when you need to reach for something you are trapped inside!"

They spent minimal money on a commercial and what did they get? 100s of parodies that act as free advertising! When I searched to find the original commercial I searched for "Snuggie" in YouTube; I got 7,140 "snuggie" results. The most famous is the CollegeHumor parody "The WTF Blanket". CollegeHumor calls it "the blanket that will ruin your sex life!"

Other sites mention that they also bought a lot of ad space in a bad economy when ad sales were down. This, of course, is true and important to the success story. If they would have just put this in SkyMall (see Slanket), it would have never taken off the way it did.

There is also the issue of price. The Snuggie comes in at $15 when the Slanket is $30. Most people are only half serious when they buy one so it makes sense they are only willing to pay half the price of "the original blanket with sleeves." Plus the Snuggie comes with a FREE BOOK LIGHT!!

I respect the Snuggie and what it brings to branding. The Snuggie reminds us that we shouldn't try to be something that we aren't. Sometimes companies, or people, try to package themselves in ways that don't reflect their true nature. I believe this is something that we should all keep in mind!

OH! And I would be remiss if I didn't embarass my brother when I have the opportunity. So folks, here is my brother Cory in his Snuggie!

Doesn't he look warm?

NOTE: Sorry about the resolution but I had to be sneaky and use my camera phone

'Til Inspiration Strikes,

Cari