But it would be a disservice to the blanket-with-sleeves to explain its appeal rationally. Despite comparisons to the all-purpose Thneed in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax — both are multicolored, amorphous and overhyped — the Snuggie is the opposite: no-purpose. None of the products competing for the blanket-mobility niche close in the back, and all measure far longer than a human body, making it impossible to do anything in them but sit, or recline, and veg out. (I refuse to believe the infomercial’s claims to the contrary; it depicts one Snuggie-clad model standing in the kitchen, but doesn’t show the audience how long it took her to get there from the couch.) And this, of course, is the point: they’re selling leisure and solitude, not fabric. In a high-pace world where very few people feel at liberty to “take time off,” it says something to wrap oneself in a blanket and declare, “I’m not getting off this couch.” And the fact that it looks ridiculous is part of the point: no one else needs to see, anyway.
more from Culture 11 here.