Snuggie's Highs and Lows

Oh the Snuggie...

I will always remember my first encounter with the Snuggie - on cable late one night channel surfing. Between the ads of chat phone lines with very friendly ladies and offers from competing mattress kings, I caught the Snuggie commercial - the new indispensable product for anyone who's economical yet desires a warm, comforting companion that doubles as a blanket while lounging around the house. From that moment on, oh Snuggie, you've captured my attention and I've experienced so many highs and lows with you.

So it was, I thought of the Snuggie as one of those silly unncessary products that somehow get made and marketed. Really was it better than a regular blanket? So every time I saw the commercial on TV I would make fun of it and shake my head.

And then the Snuggie was spotted at the Inauguration and broadcast on the news, in blogs, everywhere. It was so cold in DC at that time the use of Snuggie looked like a smart idea. At that point America, myself included, changed its mind about the Snuggie. It is useful and maybe even classy enough for the presidential inauguration!

Then the Snuggie really caught on. It became a part of pop culture: Snuggie pub crawls, worn by celebrities on morning shows...it was everywhere! And I was amused by it all. Even Matt Lauer, who swore he would never wear one, succumbed to the great soft, warm Snuggie. So what if it made you look like a giant smurf monk.

The Snuggie, silly and dorky as it was, had earned a place in my heart. I was bombarded by its presence and it was dumb but funny enough for conversation, and therefore, memorable.

So much so that at our office Christmas party's white elephant gift exchange, when a Snuggie appeared I laughed and found that I wanted it! I wanted it so much I almost started salivating. And when a second Snuggie got unwrapped that evening I became doubly excited. I really really wanted that Snuggie. And I came close. I stole one of the Snuggies from a person but alas it was not meant to be. It got stolen back. Everyone, well maybe not everyone in the room, but many people wanted the Snuggies. It was a hot item. Almost as hot as the case of beer. Oh just imagine chilling on your couch with a Snuggie and drinking a case of beer...

In any case, that was as close as I ever got to owning a Snuggie. I reasoned with myself that if I really wanted one I can buy one online easily enough, and felt better that I didn't go home that night with one. And of course I never did buy one for myself. I have a perfectly comfortable down blanket that I use for lounging on my couch since it is so frigidly cold in my living room. Regardless I had found Snuggie had crept its way into my heart as an object of desire. A fleece blanket with arms that comes with a book light! And inexpensive! How useful.

And today I was happy to read a FastCompany piece on the Snuggie. I've come a full circle - proof from a third party that the Snuggie is, after all, not so useful and magical. Its performance and durability appears to be lacking. Thank you FastCompany, you've brought me back around to sanity.