Snuggie on the street: Watch your back.
by Allen Salkin
I found the article as a slideshow. The topic was how the Snuggie fared on outdoor excursions – on this romp, Manhattan in particular. This is a fashion article, and on top of that, a fashion article about a blanket with sleeves. Not that I frown upon this in anyway but I feel that it’s pretty fair to say that I would not usually take the time to read a fashion article, especially one regarding a blanket with sleeves. I would however look at a slideshow about it.
Next thing I know, I’m reading the article.
The slideshow has little blurbs on the side that go along with each picture. The reporter isn’t taking the piece to seriously; it’s a funny idea after all, about a funny product that has become a common reference in a short amount of time. So the timing is right. Each picture just focuses on the reporter doing common Manhattan activities while adorned with the Snuggie. The blurbs back them up: “On the subway, it did make holding the rail easier” rather than when trying to hold the rail in a normal blanket. The reporter also takes the time to point out that it isn’t often that you see someone who “wears a blanket on the subway”. Then again, maybe now we know why.
Ice skating: “Snuggie gets caught in ice-skate blades easily.”
Falling: “Not thick enough to cushion falls on rock-hard ice.”
Eating a slice of pizza and talking on your cell phone: “It’s possible.”
So like I said, even though I probably wouldn’t have gone out of the way to click on the link to read the article, I was intrigued enough to view the slideshow. Through the process I fell down the rabbit hole and next thing I know, I’m reading the article.
The article itself wasn’t that great. It had the same quirkiness about it that made the slideshow fun but it worked better in short snippets rather than a long piece. It eventually becomes a bit contrived and loses its appeal and by the end I realized my attention had been reduced to simply skimming the paragraphs but still, through the convergence of the slide show and the article, I ended up delving farther into fashion and Snuggies that I ever might have otherwise. I also ended up surfing through a few more pages than I normally would, exposing myself to more advertisements.
Snuggies are all the rage night now