Sleeved Blanket

Posted on: September 20, 2011

"Snuggie" cultural phenomenon

A woman wears a blue Snuggie.

Fans wearing the University of Texas Snuggie in the stands during a football game

In late 2008 and early 2009 the "Snuggie" brand of sleeved blankets became a pop culture phenomenon, sometimes described humorously as a "cult". The Snuggie has become a camp icon.

The product became famous after a direct response commercial promoting the product was aired, leading to a mocking of the product and its commercial by comedians such as Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, and Tim Burton, as well as website parodies and Lacie and Olivia. It was featured on television programs like Today where cast and crew donned Snuggie blankets for a segment which was described as looking like a gospel choir. Others have described mass-snuggie wearing as looking like a Harry Potter convention. The Associated Press likened it to "...a monk's ensemble in fleece." and proclaimed it the "ultimate kitsch gift". The Snuggie initially sold singly for $14.95, and later in sets of two for $19.95.

Several hundred parodies of the commercial have appeared on YouTube as well as numerous fan pages on Facebook. The slanket was also mentioned in an episode of NBC's 30 Rock entitled "The Ones." The product has also been ridiculed as a "backwards robe" or simple reinvention of the coat on radio and television talk shows in the United States. Comparisons have also been made with the Thneed - a highly-promoted, amorphous garment in the Dr Seuss story, The Lorax.

On January 30, 2009 a group organized a pub crawl wearing Snuggies in Cincinnati, OH. In the following months they went on to complete over 40 more across the nation. Later, a group organized a Snuggie pub crawl in Chicago to raise money for an African orphanage, which led to similar sanctioned and independent events throughout the United States. A worker at Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative think tank, started the Facebook page "The Snuggie Cult", and convinced fellow conservatives including Joe the Plumber, Tucker Carlson, and Andrew Breitbart to pose wearing the robes.

The phenomenon resulted in sales of the Snuggie and its rivals that far exceeded their distributors' expectations: more than 20 million Snuggies as of December 2009 and 1 million Slankets as of February, 2009. The phenomenon has even resulted in variations such as Snuggie for Dogs and Snuggie with print - known as the "Custom Snuggie"

Australian radio program Labby, Camilla & Stav on B105 tested the claim that one can wear a Snuggie at sporting events, such as a soccer game, a football game or a basketball game. To test this, Labby and Stav wore Snuggies to a State of Origin game. The test was successful. They also dressed a statue of Wally Lewis, which stands in front of Suncorp Stadium, in a Snuggie live on the air. Security guards found it amusing at first but it was removed shortly after.

A reference to the Snuggie was made in the iCarly episode "iThink They Kissed", where they had a commercial spoof for a fictional product called the "Sack", which was an over-sized laundry bag that kept the wearer's arms trapped.

Rock band Weezer is releasing their own Snuggie blanket, which is available in solid blue with the name "Weezer" on it in white font, as of November 2009. It has been rumored to be called the "Wuggie".

In the summer of 2009, the Designer Snuggie was released to the public, as well as the Snuggie for Kids and the Snuggie for Dogs. . The Snuggie became especially popular during the 2009 Holiday Season.

On Disney Channel's Original Series "Sonny with a Chance" Sonny (Demi Lovato) is seeing ordering in an episode A "Balarmy" "The blanket with arms"...making a spoof of the Snuggie.

Commercial variations

The product was first commercialized as the Freedom Blanket.

The Slanket was created by Gary Clegg and was helped in the creation of his prototype by Ryan Lafayette (before the Snuggie) in Maine in 1998 using a sleeping bag. Clegg's mother made him a blanket with a single sleeve for use in his cold dorm room. Clegg later developed that into the Slanket with two sleeves.

The Snuggie, the most popular sleeved blanket product has been sold in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It was marketed primarily through a memorable television commercial. As of January 2009, over 20 million of the product had been sold.

The company markets the Snuggie via its website and television commercials along with many other as seen on TV products. It has been incorrectly assumed to be marketed by the company Fosdick Corporation.

Another well known variant, the Toasty Wrap, has been sold via infomercials hosted by Montel Williams as a method for saving on heating costs. However, based on the similarities of the Toasty Wrap's advertising to that of Snuggie, it is probable that both brands originate with the same manufacturer.

Other variations are known as the Cuddlee, and the Dreamie which is sold in discount and variety stores.

Latest Articles & Reviews

Sleeved Blanket

Popular Articles

Deal Alerts