Voodoohead
02-14-2009, 11:21 AM
www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-snuggie-pub-crawl,0,4606018.story
chicagotribune.com
Snuggie Pub Crawl coming
By Vikki Ortiz
Tribune staff reporter
1:48 PM CST, February 13, 2009
Like many others who've seen commercials for the Snuggie--"the Blanket with Sleeves!"--on TV, David Barnes and Dan Kuthy were fascinated.
The Chicago 20-something-olds chuckled at images of a man wearing the monk-like coverlet so he could more freely munch on popcorn, a woman being liberated by the Snuggie as she talked on a (cordless) phone, or – perhaps best of all – a family high-fiving while wearing the garments at an outdoor sporting event.
And then Barnes and Kuthy decided to Snuggie one better.
"We thought, imagine the vision of 1,000 people walking down Clark Street wearing Snuggies -- this is what we wanted to make happen," said Kuthy, a 23-year-old Lincoln Park resident and co-organizer of the Snuggie Pub Crawl planned for downtown Chicago on March 21.
Less than a week after the launch of www.snuggiepubcrawl.com, Barnes and Kuthy have e-mail addresses from more than 450 people interested in wearing the $19.99 Snuggies -- buy one, get one free, along with a free reading light -- for a blanket-covered, bar-hopping adventure.
"This is so wrong, but it feels so right," one commenter gushed on the Web site.
Barnes and Kuthy, who both have full-time Internet marketing jobs in Chicago, knew Snuggies were gaining cult-like status before they came up with the pub crawl concept.
One of many You Tube parodies of the Snuggie commercial dubs it "the blanket that will ruin your sex life" and "turn you into a complete shut-in that never leaves the house." A Snuggie Fan Page on Facebook had more than 12,700 friends as of Friday. It's also creating a buzz on Tweeter, Yelp and Digg.
Barnes and Kuthy hope to strike a deal with the Snuggie manufacturer to provide blankets for sale at the pub crawl. They say they'll donate the proceeds to an orphanage in Tanzania.
If they pull off this year's event, Barnes and Kuthy want to make the Snuggie Pub Crawl an annual outing.
"It'll be our little mark on history, I suppose," Barnes said.
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
Could be the new fashion statement at Jazzfest? How funny if everyone showed up at BJ in this?
chicagotribune.com
Snuggie Pub Crawl coming
By Vikki Ortiz
Tribune staff reporter
1:48 PM CST, February 13, 2009
Like many others who've seen commercials for the Snuggie--"the Blanket with Sleeves!"--on TV, David Barnes and Dan Kuthy were fascinated.
The Chicago 20-something-olds chuckled at images of a man wearing the monk-like coverlet so he could more freely munch on popcorn, a woman being liberated by the Snuggie as she talked on a (cordless) phone, or – perhaps best of all – a family high-fiving while wearing the garments at an outdoor sporting event.
And then Barnes and Kuthy decided to Snuggie one better.
"We thought, imagine the vision of 1,000 people walking down Clark Street wearing Snuggies -- this is what we wanted to make happen," said Kuthy, a 23-year-old Lincoln Park resident and co-organizer of the Snuggie Pub Crawl planned for downtown Chicago on March 21.
Less than a week after the launch of www.snuggiepubcrawl.com, Barnes and Kuthy have e-mail addresses from more than 450 people interested in wearing the $19.99 Snuggies -- buy one, get one free, along with a free reading light -- for a blanket-covered, bar-hopping adventure.
"This is so wrong, but it feels so right," one commenter gushed on the Web site.
Barnes and Kuthy, who both have full-time Internet marketing jobs in Chicago, knew Snuggies were gaining cult-like status before they came up with the pub crawl concept.
One of many You Tube parodies of the Snuggie commercial dubs it "the blanket that will ruin your sex life" and "turn you into a complete shut-in that never leaves the house." A Snuggie Fan Page on Facebook had more than 12,700 friends as of Friday. It's also creating a buzz on Tweeter, Yelp and Digg.
Barnes and Kuthy hope to strike a deal with the Snuggie manufacturer to provide blankets for sale at the pub crawl. They say they'll donate the proceeds to an orphanage in Tanzania.
If they pull off this year's event, Barnes and Kuthy want to make the Snuggie Pub Crawl an annual outing.
"It'll be our little mark on history, I suppose," Barnes said.
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
Could be the new fashion statement at Jazzfest? How funny if everyone showed up at BJ in this?