Here's a kooky little item I saw on Pogue's Posts and decided to steal: Will It Blend?

The site, created by Orem, Utah based heavy-duty blender maker Blendtec, advertises their impressive Total Blender via David Letterman-inspired video demonstrations of its "extreme blending" prowess on items ranging from a granulated sugar to an iPod. The videos are divided into two categories: Try This At Home, featuring tests you might try with your current blender for comparison purposes, and Don't Try This At Home, in which professional blending expert (and Blendtec president) Tom Dickson destroys dangerous items under controlled conditions.

As David Pogue's blog points out, this is an ingenious example of a viral, low-cost, identity-building strategy which gets people to voluntarily pay attention to corporate advertising. But wait, it gets better: According to a podcast interview by Rocky Mountain Voices, after an initial investment of about $50, the campaign, created by Blendtec marketing director George Wright, exploded to Number 3 at YouTube and was getting five million hits in a matter of a few days. Additionally, the entertaining nature of the project has gained it airtime and exposure on major media like The Today Show, plus David Pogue is repeating the ad and now so am I. Absolutely brilliant.

I know that I watched most of the videos in both categories, and it wasn't long before the sheer power of the machine had me hankering for one of my own — until I remembered that we already have a fine Waring blender that doesn't get a whole lot of use, and this Total Blender is currently selling for $399.95, down from a list price of $599.00.

Maybe it's something we'll consider in the future, after our teeth are gone.

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Will It Blend?

Here's a kooky little item I saw on Pogue's Posts and decided to steal: Will It Blend? The site, created by Orem, Utah based heavy-duty blender maker Blendtec, advertises their impressive Total Blender via David Letterman-inspired video demonstrations of its "extreme blending" prowess on items ranging from a granulated sugar to an iPod. The videos are divided into two categories: Try This At Home, featuring tests you might try with your current blender for comparison purposes, and Don't Try This At Home, in which professional blending expert (and Blendtec president) Tom Dickson destroys dangerous items under controlled conditions. As David Pogue's blog points out, this is an ingenious example of a viral, low-cost, identity-building strategy which gets people to voluntarily pay attention to corporate advertising. But wait, it gets better: According to a podcast interview by Rocky Mountain Voices, after an initial investment of about $50, the campaign, created by Blendtec marketing director George Wright, exploded to Number 3 at YouTube and was getting five million hits in a matter of a few days. Additionally, the entertaining nature of the project has gained it airtime and exposure on major media like The Today Show, plus David Pogue is repeating the ad and now so am I. Absolutely brilliant. I know that I watched most of the videos in both categories, and it wasn't long before the sheer power of the machine had me hankering for one of my own — until I remembered that we already have a fine Waring blender that doesn't get a whole lot of use, and this Total Blender is currently selling for $399.95, down from a list price of $599.00. Maybe it's something we'll consider in the future, after our teeth are gone.