Slankets and Snuggies: The Mockable Sells

The pitch ripe for irony, sells more than a blanket

By Victoria Floethe, Newser User

Posted Jan 14, 2009 9:17 PM CST

(Newser) – Parodied by YouTube videos and mocked by Jay Leno, the blanket with arms known as the Slanket—or its knockoff the Snuggie—is getting a lot of attention for a useless invention, writes Dara Lind for Culture11. As Leno points out, “It’s like wearing a bathrobe backwards," but the kitschy infomercial is selling more than fleece for the unbelievably low price of $19.95. In 2009, being wrapped up in a blanket suggests comfort, solitude, and thrift. “You don’t want to raise your heating bill,” chirps the Snuggie pitchwoman.

What's more, the digital lambasting of the infomercial gives the product ironic appeal. "It's a textbook guilty pleasure," Lind writes. "No one admits to buying a Slanket, but receiving one for Christmas from an embarrassing relative is entirely acceptable—as is bragging about how warm and comfortable you are as a result."

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In a high-pace world where very few people feel at liberty to “take time off,” it says something to wrap oneself in a blanket and declare, “I’m not getting off this couch." - Dara Lind, Culture11

Enter Gary Clegg. Back in ‘98... Gary found himself unable to escape the cold of a Maine dorm room. He could cocoon himself in his sleeping bag (some say it was a blanket); he could channel-surf; but he couldn’t do both at the same time.
- Dara Lind, Culture11

Of course, to many of the millions who have been exposed to the Slanket by now — or, more likely, its cable-blitzing knockoff cousin the Snuggie the innovation speeds right past Elegant and lands at Ridiculously Unnecessary. - Dana Lind, Culture11

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Slankets and Snuggies: The Mockable Sells