A sold-out crowd of more than 20,000 Cleveland Cavaliers fans set the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing fleece blankets, which are best known as Snuggies. To set the record, the crowd wore the custom-made "blanket with sleeves" for five minutes of the game. Take a look:
The Snuggie (pictured on the right) has been a big hit with over four million sold thanks to help from numerous mentions in blogs, lots of silly videos - like this one - and many Flickr photos. They even wore Snuggies on the Today Show. But the Snuggie was not the first blanket with sleeves idea. The Slanket, another blanket with sleeves, came out before the Snuggie reports the New York Times.
The Slanket, another blanket with sleeves, predates the Snuggie by more than two years.
Gary Clegg said it began in 1998, when he was a freshman at the University of Maine in Orono and living in a chilly dormitory. He cut a hole in his sleeping bag because his TV remote wouldn’t work through the fabric, and subsequently asked his mother to sew a sleeve onto it, he said. Mr. Clegg added a second sleeve and otherwise refined the design in the ensuing years. He gave the appendaged blankets as gifts to friends, and finally, with an investment from his brother, Jeff, mass-produced them and started selling them on Slanket.com in early 2006.
In 2007, the Slanket was picked up both by the QVC network, where Mr. Clegg appears regularly to pitch it, and by Skymall, the catalog tucked into airplane seat pockets. In 2008, Slanket revenue topped $4 million.
Gary Clegg's Slanket is a higher quality blanket that sells for $37.99. It costs more than a Snuggie but it is benefiting from the Snuggie's popularity. Clegg told the Times, "Their infomercial is raising general awareness about the product."
Newser says the Snuggie was beat by another blanket with sleeves called the Freedom Blanket that debuted in 2005. Here's a video from Forbes about the Slanket from March, 2007.
The Snuggie is a kind of blanket that you can wear. It's a soft fleece blanket with oversized sleeves. The product has been promoted through tv commercials that promise a Snuggie and a free book light for $19.95 plus $7.95 postage and handling. They will also throw in a second Snuggie free with your order if you another $7.95 for postage and handling. That offer is also promoted on the getsnuggie.com website. The Snuggie comes in three colors: burgundy, royal blue and sage green.
The blanket with sleeves idea doesn't seem like much but it has really caught on. USA Todayreports that over 4 million Snuggies have been sold. Snuggie groups on social networks and mentions by Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres have helped the Snuggie become part of popular culture.
"Every once in a while, a product transcends advertising to become part of pop culture," says Scott Boilen, president and CEO of Allstar Products Group of Hawthorne, N.Y., which conceived and markets the China-made Snuggie.
Indeed, Snuggies seem to be everywhere. See them on Facebook — nearly 250 groups, pro and con; one fan club lists 5,999 members. Watch them on YouTube — nearly 300 parody videos posted, including one titled "The Cult of the Snuggie," with 146,000 views as of Tuesday.
Jay Leno makes fun of them: "Lard-ass quilt was the original name! Why not just put your robe on backwards?" Ellen DeGeneres spoofed them, trying one on during her show. Fox News even spotted someone wearing a Snuggie in the crowd at President Obama's inauguration last week.
There's also a website called Snuggie Sightings where Snuggie fans share photos, stories and Snuggie-related news. USA Today says not everything is rosy in Snuggie world. There have been some complaints - ordered Snuggies have not arrived or have taken longer than the advertised four to six weeks.
We think Snuggies are a must-have item in a woman's wardrobe. They would be the perfect choice of attire when you want to get the message across on a date that you'd really like him to leave and make it an early evening. Because nothing says "not tonight" like a Snuggie.
The Snuggie (pictured on the right) has been a big hit with over 
