Will It Blend?

Infobox Television
show_name = Will It Blend?


caption = Tom Dickson blending a Wii Remote on "Will It Blend?"
genre = Viral marketing, Paid programming
creator = George Wright
Tom Dickson
starring = Tom Dickson
country = USA
language = English
producer = Kels Goodman
location = Utah
camera = Kels Goodman
network = YouTube
first_aired = October 30, 2006
last_aired = present
website = http://www.willitblend.com/

"Will It Blend?" is a viral marketing campaign consisting of a series of infomercials demonstrating the Blendtec line of blenders, especially the "Total Blender". In the show, Tom Dickson, the "Blendtec" founder, attempts to blend various items in order to show off the power of his blender. Dickson started this marketing campaign after doing a blending attempt with a box of matches. [Esquire. [http://www.esquire.com/the-side/video/Willitblend050307 Will it Blend?] ]

tructure

At some point during the blending process, a subtitle appears stating whether or not the particular items are safe to blend at home. Golf balls, marbles, and cubic zirconia, for example, are not safe. These show the subtitle "Don't try this at home". On the other hand, credit cards, ice, and a McDonald's Extra Value Meal are safe to blend. These show the subtitle "Please try this at home." While the item is being blended Dickson is smiling and waiting for the process to end. When it does, Dickson frequently warns viewers not to breathe the smoke or dust that results when blending unsafe items by saying "Don't breathe this!", as it could cause serious conditions such as silicosis. At the end of each video, the contents are emptied out, either onto a piece of cardboard or into a glass, at which point the subtitle "Yes, it blends!" appears.

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.

Popular fan requests for the show include blending either another blender or a crowbar. It is highly unlikely that either would blend, and this entails that neither would even be attempted, due to the nature and purpose of the show—marketing Blendtec products. A demonstration video featuring the anticipated crowbar was interrupted by a cell phone, to which Dickson responds by stuffing the entire crew's cell phones into the blender and blending them instead. The opening montage shows a clip of Dickson pushing what appears to be a crowbar into the blender, and the blade has stopped. The show has attempted to blend increasingly unlikely items, such as a six foot garden rake and a sealed can of soda.

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. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLe0T1rUeDA YouTube - Will It Blend? Video Camera Part 2: The Return ] ]

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). Dickson has done the same with an iPhone 3G on the July 11, 2008 episode and set up a charitable auction on eBay again, along with a "Will It Blend" t-shirt, an autographed jar (holding the blended remains of the phone), the box the iPhone comes in (including the earphones) and a brand new Blendtec Total Blender. [cite web | url = http://blog.blendtec.com/?p=122 | title = Will It Blog - The Blended Remains of an iPhone G3(sic)… | date = 2008-07-14]

One of the most extreme episodes was when Dickson placed 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. The scene was exaggerated by the addition of nuclear explosion film footage before one of the production crew sprayed a fire extinguisher on the still-operating blender.Some episodes are produced to coincide with certain events. For example, three episodes aired during Super Bowl weekend. Due to trademark restrictions, the words "Super Bowl" were substituted with other words such as "Super Sunday," "The Big Game" or "That Last Football Game." The first episode had Dickson blend a smoothie out of salsa, tortilla chips, Buffalo wings and some Budweiser. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DieCnMS0G8k YouTube - Will It Blend? - S***r B**l Smoothie ] ] The second and third episodes used two blenders to predict the outcome of the Super Bowl by blending miniature helmets (AFC vs. NFC) [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek0OAXmer38 YouTube - Will It Blend? - S***r B**l Conference Blend-Off ] ] and foam footballs (Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears). [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29qOT4JozSw YouTube - Will It Blend? - S***r B**l Blend-Off ] ] To coincide with the release of the film "Transformers", Dickson blended the "Transformers" toys Bumblebee and Swindle before challenging two of his grandchildren to transform the remains. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7SKDnhI3Eg YouTube - Will It Blend? - Transformers ] ] When Dickson learned that The Beach Boys did not win "Esquire Magazines 2007 Esky Award, he blended the trophy. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9POR8IfawVo YouTube - Will It Blend? - Esky Award ] ] He also blended the music/rhythm video game ' after finding no Beach Boys in it, and the first-person shooter "Halo 3" after two of his grandchildren beat him in a multiplayer game. To celebrate the release of Weezer's 2008 album, Dickson blended a copy of the CD with a can of pork and beans (a reference to the album's first single, as "Will It Blend?" is among the internet memes referenced in the song). Dickson also blended the Wii Wheel after breaking it during a game of Mario Kart Wii, and a Grand Theft Auto IV disc due to the fact that the 1968 Mustang GT 390 (like in Bullitt) was not included in the game.

Impact

The phrase "Will it blend?" has become an internet meme on sites such as Digg. [cite web | url = http://digg.com/design/How_to_blend_two_animals_together | title = Diggers using the "Will it blend?" meme.] 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." [ [http://squidnews.com/2007/02/09/will-it-blend-the-interview/ Squid News - “Will it blend?”, the interview with Tom Dickson ] ]

Blendtec now sells "Will It Blend?" merchandise, including a spoof shirt with the slogan "Tom Dickson is my Homeboy". [cite web | url = http://www.willitblend.com/productdetails.aspx?id=1 | title = Will It Blend Store | accessdate = 2008-01-15]

Dickson has made many national television appearances, including NBC's "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno on March 30, 2007, on which he blended a rake handle in mere seconds. Dickson also made his appearance in the History Channel series "Modern Marvels". In the episode "World's Strongest III" aired March 6 2008 the show ends with a special Will it Blend to prove if he can blend the channel's longest running series (in the form of a portable MP3 player [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xpd9xTSrjc YouTube - Modern Marvels: Will It Blend?] ] ).

In April 2007, radio station KDRF (eD-FM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico enlisted Tom Dickson to do a "Will It Blend?" version to promote the radio station. The three 30-second commercials show different styles of music CDs being blended, showcasing the station's variety format.

In September 2007, the videos earned the second highest annual payout of about US$15000 from the video hosting service Revver. [cite web | url = http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2007-09-13-revver_N.htm | title = Posters reap cash rewards at video-sharing site Revver | accessdate = 2007-09-13 | date = 2007-09-12 | author = Graham, Jefferson | work =USA Today | quote = Utah-based Blendtec has received about $15,000 for clips that highlight weird things emulsified into oblivion in the company's blenders…]

In 2008, "Will It Blend?" was featured on a Dreyer's Dibs commercial. In the commercial, a girl holding a large lollipop tries some Dibs and wonders what will happen to lollipops when kids stop buying them in favor of the bite-sized ice cream treats. The next scene shows giant lollipops being used as an alternative to waxing a man's hairy back before Dickson blends them. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKAEEOFZMtM YouTube - Will It Blend? on a Dibs Commercial] ] A second version of the commercial has Dickson himself being waxed. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjRJfisLC98 YouTube - Will It Blend? - Second Dibs Commercial] ]

As far as awards, "Will it Blend?" has been nominated for the 2007 YouTube award for Best Series, winner of .Net Magazine's 2007 Viral Video campaign of the year and winner of the Bronze level Clio Award for Viral Video in 2008.

Between YouTube and the "Will it Blend?" Website, the program has now surpassed 100 million hits.fact|date=July 2008

List of episodes

# Marbles
# Rake Handle
# Chuck Norris and Bad guys (Some action figures are blended, but the Chuck Norris figure emerges unblended from the bad guys' dust)
# "Extra Value Meal" (a mixture of a Big Mac, fries and a milkshake)
# "Cochicken" (a mixture of Coca-Cola and chicken)
# Ice (Blended into snow)
# Golf Balls
# Coke Can Smoothie (a mixture of a can of Coca-Cola and its contents and ice)
# Credit Cards
# The Movie (a mixture of a DVD, popping corn and a can of Coke)
# Pens
# Thanksgiving Dinner (Tom's toothless Uncle Floyd came over for dinner and Tom blended his serving of Thanksgiving dinner for him. He started with a turkey leg because Floyd preferred dark meat. Afterwards, he poured in a bowl of cranberries, and a slice of pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream. Finally, he sprinkled in some salt and pepper for taste.)
# Bottled Beverage
# Tilapia -O- Matic (Tom places a frozen fish into the blender half filled with water and blends the fish)
# Oysters
# Crowbar (Does not blend crowbar, eventually just blends cell phones.)
# 3 Hockey pucks
# Real-Time Compilation (Video made as a bet that no stop motion, mirrors, or other tricks were used to make the other videos. This video showed the blending of light bulbs, golf balls, and a rake handle. The light bulbs were blended in 11 seconds, the golf balls in 30 seconds, and the rake handle in 10 seconds.)
# iPod (Dickson blends an iPod.)
# Coffee Beans (Dickson shows that the blender can be used to grind coffee beans as opposed to a coffee grinder.)
# Nutcracker with nuts
# 53 Toy Cars (Dickson woke up having stepped on all the toy cars left out by his grandchildren, so he blended them all to teach them a lesson. This video showed the subtitle "Kids, Don't Try This At Home!")
# Christmas Dinner (Toothless Uncle Floyd from the Thanksgiving Dinner video was returning for Christmas dinner, so Dickson once again blended up his meal. He blended a Cornish Game Hen which weighed 2 pounds, a raw yam, and a few pieces of fruitcake. He also poured in eggnog.)
# 2 Barbie Dancing Princess Dolls
# Cassette Tapes (TDK cassette tapes)
# A can of Campbell's Tomato Soup
# Light bulbs
# Golf Club (Dickson needs help on his "short-shot" , so he blends and destroys the handle of his driver.)
# Blending granulated sugar into powdered sugar
# "Workout in a Blender" (a mixture of a Winsor Pilates workout DVD video, tofu, a protein bar, Yoplait yogurt, and a Slim-Fast shake)
# "Dental hygiene Surprise" (a mixture of toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash and a toothbrush)
# Pickled Pig's Feet
# Ceramic Magnets (falsely claimed to be neodymium magnets)
# Tape measure
# "S***r B**l Smoothie" (a mixture of salsa, 13 buffalo chicken wings, tortilla chips and a can of Budweiser)
# "S***r B**l Conference Blend-Off" (two blenders blend small plastic football helmets, one set representing the AFC and the other one the NFC.)
# "S***r B**l Blend-Off" (A NERF football is placed in each of the two blenders, one representing the Indianapolis Colts and one the Chicago Bears.)
# Cubic Zirconia (purposefully described as diamonds)
# "Annoying Valentine Gift" (A stuffed toy that looks like a red devil holding a heart that reads "Be Mine". It moves its arms, legs and mouth as it sings Mah Nà Mah Nà and also has flashing red antennae. Dickson blends the toy as it is singing.)
# 12 Glow Sticks
# A Can of Campbell's chicken soup
# Toilet Plunger (Dickson says the flat blades and square blending chamber pull food into the blender, so there is no need for spoons, spatulas, or plungers. He then proceeds to blend a plunger.)
# "Healthy Green Drink" (Dickson blends 2 cans of Dole pineapple juice without the cans, spinach, a single cube of pineapple with the eye so it can "see what will happen", some flax seed, a banana without the peel, and some ice.)
# "Will It Blend? LIVE!"
# Video Camera (Dickson connects a data cable to the camcorder so viewers can see what happens inside the blending chamber during blending.)
# Baseball
# Esky Award (Dickson was mad that The Beach Boys did not win Esquire Magazine's 2007 Esky Award, so he proceeded to blend one.)
# Makeup
# A 15-foot garden hose
# Tiki Torch
# Will It Blend? On The Road.
# "Toilet Flusher Thingy." (A flapper valve, float pump and flushing handle of a toilet are blended together into powder.)
# Transformers Toys (Dickson's grandchildren ask him to transform his Transformers and he does so-in a Blentec Blender.) [ [http://www.willitblend.com/videos.aspx?type=unsafe&video=transformers Will It Blend? | Presented By Blendtec ] ]
#"Carny Cuisine" (2 corn dogs, French's mustard without the bottle, pink cotton candy and a cherry Snow cone with the cone are blended. The resulting smoothie did not taste good. It would also have been hazardous to drink due to the blended paper cone and wooden corn dog sticks.)
# EZ Cheese
# iPhone (Dickson sold the remains of the iPhone, consisting of powder and a mangled frame on eBay.)
# Spam (Dickson blended canned Spam with 3 extra-large eggs. The canned Spam was a pun on Internet spam as Dickson was annoyed at all the spam in his inbox.
# 6 Bic Cigarette Lighters
# Video camera Part 2: The Return (The producers attempt to return the blended camcorder to Best Buy. They do not succeed because having blended the camera was considered customer abuse.)
# Cricut (In this video, Tom got his wife a Cricut set and blended all her old scissors, dies and punches.)
# "Guitar Hero" Gibson X-Plorer controller (Dickson buys a copy of "" at the request of his 27 grandchildren. After realizing the game does not have any Beach Boys songs, he decided to blend the controller. Because the controller is too big for the blender, he "pulls a Pete Townshend on it (destroys the body of the controller)" and blends the neck of the guitar before setting the remains on fire)
# "Halo 3" (Dickson gets mad at the fact that his 4 and 5 year old grandchildren beat him at "Halo 3", so he takes away the game and blends the game disc.)
# "Picket Sign" (Dickson realizes that his producer/writer is on strike, and he has nothing to blend; so he runs to the front of the office and grabs his producer's picket sign. He then blends the picket sign's handle and crumples up the sign.)
# Blend the Vote (Dickson blends a toy donkey and elephant to help decide the outcome of the 2008 election.)
# 1 Million Volt Stun Gun (Episode Title "Don't Blend Me Bro")
# Full Strength smoothie inventor Shawn Phillips (Phillips was not actually blended, he made a smoothie in the blender)
# Hearing Aids (His uncle, Floyd, needed new hearing aids).
# Remote Controls (Dickson buys a universal remote, and has no need for the rest of them. He also starts the blender with the remote.)
# Rubik's Cube
# Wii Remote (Uncle Floyd was bowling in "Wii Sports" when the wrist strap of the Wii Remote snapped and destroyed the TV. So, Dickson took the strapless Wii Remotes and blended them before giving him a new one and instating a wrist strap rule.)
# "Grand Theft Auto IV" (Dickson bought "Grand Theft Auto IV", wanting to steal a 1968 Mustang GT390. He blended it, after realizing that the 1968 GT390 is not in the game.)
# "Weezer" Pork and Beans" (Dickson blended Weezer's new album and a can of pork and beans, in a reference to Weezer's hit single "Pork and Beans.")
# "Mario Kart" (Dickson blended the Wii Wheel, after breaking it while playing "Mario Kart".)
# "iPhone 3G" (Dickson bought the new iPhone 3G and he no longer needed the original version so he decided to blend it. But he accidentally blended the 3G.)
# Nike
# Time Warp
# Man Cave

Dickson often gives a reason for his destruction of products, such as cellular phones interrupting his show, a poor golf game, needing to update his iPod, and his grandchildren leaving their toys out (hurting his feet).

References

External links

* [http://www.willitblend.com "Will It Blend?" official site] —contains "Will It Blend?" episodes, the "Will It Blog?" and a form to fill out to request various items to be blended for future episodes.
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec Blendtec's Youtube Profile]
* [http://www.blendtec.com/ Blendtec site (home blenders)]
* [http://commercial.blendtec.com/ Blendtec site (commercial blenders)]
* [http://www.onirik.net/spip.php?article3859 Interview of George Wright, from Blendtec]