Who invented the sleeved blanket

We went to a home and housewares trade show in Chicago and that is when everything went to the next level. We were the Cinderella story of the show; we got on The Today Show , received orders from Sky Mall , met QVC, online retailers and representatives from mail order catalogues. We re-launched and immediately started breaking records on QVC. They were selling faster than we could get products to them. How did you hear about the Snuggie? In things were going great for us and we were preparing to approach big box stores in the summer of that year.

All of that ended, though, in August. That is when we saw the first test commercials for Snuggie. Were you upset? I was down at first, but I knew there was nothing I could do. Did you consider legal action? No, I never thought about that. It is like having a patent on socks or T-shirts. Did you still approach the big box stores? The Snuggie had taken that business.

Instead, we had to refocus and look differently at the playing field. Our business has never dropped. How have you stayed so competitive? It is like having a patent on socks or T-shirts. The introduction of the Snuggie occurred at the same time that social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook were becoming more important to businesses.

It was probably the first product that had the advantage of social media really peaking. While the Snuggie commercial promoted how great the product could be at home on the couch, and even at a football game, barflies were quick to adopt the uniform.

Over the next few years, more than other Snuggie crawls happened. The Slanket according to its originator, Gary Clegg, was born in when he asked his mom to create a sleeved blanket. According to Gary, he was tired of trying to use a television remote while watching TV in a sleeping bag. The Slanket is still alive today and from all indications, doing well - most likely capitalizing on the overflow of popularity caused by Snuggie s marketing dollars. Returning to the ten million reasons why people got a Snuggie for Christmas rather than a Freedom Blanket or Slanket, the answer is easy - money.

Allstar Marketing, the owner of the Snuggie, put ten million dollars into television commercials. But to all, it meant a future of higher comfort. They became an international smash overnight, shattering QVC sales records like they were china plates. Knockoff companies like Snuggie and Toasty Wrap started popping up, and the sleeved blanket sensation spread like wildfire. All because one innovative college kid, dissatisfied with the blanket tech of his time, followed through with a great idea.

It has been 11 years since Gary Clegg started the Slanket company with his brother Jeff — was their first official year of business, and since, he says his life has been a whirlwind.