"Baby Snuggie"

Just when I thought people had created every possible thing, I came across a new item—“The Baby Snuggie”, actually called the Peekaru, (see photo above). I have yet to decide how I feel about this item of clothing/child harness. Initially, I laughed for about five minutes in my room and then proceeded to run around showing my roommates the most absurd thing I had come across in the past couple of hours. As I think more about it, I can’t help but wonder how far people will take an idea to make a profit. For example, this “baby snuggie” is made obviously for a mom and her child based off the more widely known Snuggie.

The Snuggie craze is absolutely hilarious. I have been tempted on numerous occasions to purchase one of these after seeing the infomercials on T.V. Who wouldn’t want to be cozied up next to a fireplace, reading a good book, wrapped up in their very own Snuggie?? Then I realize, why spend fifteen dollars when I can walk upstairs to my closet and put on one of my robes backwards, because really that is what a Snuggie is. A Snuggie is a backwards robe. I have had this conversation with numerous people and everyone agrees that this invention is ludicrous. At the same time, I cannot help but seriously consider buying one just for the heck of it. I would love to see my roommates’ expressions when they walked in and I was just enjoying an afternoon nap completely engrossed in my ginormous Snuggie.

Back to the “Baby Snuggie”…that child looks absolutely miserable. By the looks of this advertisement, he has been put in some sort of a straight jacket. From my experience with young children, I can say that most kids would not sit still in that. Sure, maybe they would sit still if they were exhausted or had been playing for hours on end, but this isn’t going to be an everyday occurrence. I mean it is one thing for a baby to be carried in one of those baby Bjorns, but this looks a little claustrophobic for my liking. Not to mention, other than hilarious, the image in this advertisement is frightening. It is kind of like this mom has a face attempting to grow out of her chest, all the while making her look trendy in her blue vest with a built in baby face.

On the same website I found this photo, I read that the OG Snuggie has “become the dress code for the "Snuggie Pub Crawl" -- and some people, surprisingly enough, claim to really dig them!” First of all, I need to witness the so called “Snuggie Pub Crawl” (http://www.momlogic.com/2009/03/the_baby_snuggie.php). Seeing even twenty people running around in a Snuggie would be enough to last me a lifetime. Second, I want to meet someone who actually loves these without realizing their absurdity. One of the problems a couple months ago was that these were a one size fits all kind of a thing. My next door neighbor at my parent’s house who is 12 received one from his parents. The Snuggie was literally HUGE on him and was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. His parents had clearly gotten him this gift for their own personal satisfaction to laugh at him endlessly.

While the gift is indefinitely hilarious, it is also a ridiculous invention. From this point forward I am considering only buying this gift for my friends for their birthdays. At the same time, I hope people don’t seriously think this is a normal purchase and I also hope that Snuggie loses my email address (which I never gave them) because I legitimately receive three emails a day from them. The “baby snuggie” is over 80 dollars and while it may look intriguing, I can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t get a good laugh out of seeing someone walking with one on.
For more information on the “Baby Snuggie” (official name: Peekaru) see this link: http://www.togetherbe.com/productDescriptionPeekaruOriginal.aspx

E. O'Neil