Will it Blend?

About

Will It Blend is a viral marketing campaign / infomercial series for a line of mixer/blenders starring Tom Dickson, the founder of Blendtec. In each episode of the series, Dickson attempts to blend all sorts of items that can fit inside the container, from Chuck Norris action figures and Barbie dolls to iPods and camcorders. Since its debut, Blendtec’s videos have colleted a total of 83 million plus views (an average of 1 million views per video) on YouTube.

Popularity & Marketing Success

The phrase “Will it blend” has become an internet meme on sites such as Digg. Dickson has revealed that the campaign has been a great success for Blendtec: “The campaign took off almost instantly. We have definitely felt an impact in sales. Will it Blend has had an amazing impact to our commercial and our retail products.”

Notable Episodes

• One of the most famous Will it Blend? is the “cochicken”, which is half of a chicken (cooked, usually rotisserie) blended with 12 fluid ounces of Coca-Cola (without the can). Although the show’s example was blended with the bones (and thus was disclaimed as unsafe to eat), a boneless version was made on NBC’s Today and served to Meredith Vieira:

• On the April 3, 2007 episode, Dickson placed a camcorder in the blender, giving viewers a first-person look inside the container while being blended. Shortly afterwards, the production team, Kels Goodman and Ray Hansen, attempted to return what was left of the camcorder to Best Buy, with no success:

• On the July 10, 2007 episode, an iPhone played the video intro before being blended. The resulting remains of the iPhone (which consist of powder and a mangled metal frame), along with a brand new Blendtec blender and a DVD compilation of the commercials, were placed for bidding on eBay and sold at $901 USD (which was given to charity):

• One of the most extreme episodes featured Dickson placing six Bic lighters in the blender. In a matter of seconds, the mixture of butane, metal and plastic ignited into a ball of fire inside the container: