Making an igloo on national TV

Those of you who stayed home from work on Jan. 7 and perhaps tuned in to watch The Today Show saw footage of two men building an igloo — all part of a Today Show Gear Guy feature on snow gear.

Trouble, was, the TV numbnuts never mentioned the name of the product — the Ultimate Igloo Kit by Grand Shelters (www.grandshelters.com). They also said it takes three hours to build an igloo, which company owner says is way long and based only on the fact it took the man on camera three hours since he had to work with chunky man-made snow.

Company owner Ed Huesers told SNEWS that, “They had a young girl lying in the door of the igloo while she smiled and waved. She actually made it look like she was having fun in the snow. I think that was one of the best parts about the footage.”

Despite no name mention, TV viewers apparently went to The Today show web site where the company name and link to the company website resides (www.msnbc.com/news/855748.asp). Huesers told us that, “The results are just a shot in the arm in sales so far, but the hits on our web page have doubled. The navigation paths and time spent on pages indicates that a higher percentage are actually interested compared to our normal traffic.”

Huesers added, “Because of the show, I think people were able to get more than just the general gist of what the igloo tool is all about and we should see continued sales from it.”

Other companies also garnered Today Show coverage, including Nike’s Air Teocalli XCR, Fischer’s RCS SkateCut cross country skis, Salomon’s Carbon Pro Skate boot and Pilot racing binding system, Burton’s Source and Junkyard snowdecks, and a Backyard Blizzard (make your own snow with just a garden hose and the device — www.backyardblizzard.com.