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Interviews: Ask Blendtec Founder Tom Dickson What Won't Blend?

Posted by samzenpus on from the will-he-answer? dept.

Reducing various items to a fine powder in one of his blenders earned Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson a cult following. One of, if not the greatest viral marketing campaigns of all time, the "Will It Blend?" series has been watched almost 221,000,000 times on YouTube. In addition to receiving many marketing awards, Tom and his blenders have been featured on The Tonight Show and the History Channel series Modern Marvels. He has agreed to take a break from pureeing household objects and answer your questions. As usual, you're invited to ask as many questions as you'd like, but please divide them, one question per post.

13 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. which ones surprised you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Which things really suprpised you by how well, or poorly, they blended?

  2. Did it work? by MyFirstNameIsPaul · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did all those YouTube views, interviews, awards, and features result in increased profits?

    --

    I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.

  3. Automatic refrigerator/blender? by BKX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Have you considered embedding a blender in the door of a refrigerator with hoppers and a timer and a dispenser, so that we could be awakened by an automatically created fresh smoothie/milkshake waiting for us in our fridges?

    1. Re:Automatic refrigerator/blender? by StuartHankins · · Score: 5, Funny

      WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

  4. What was Unexpected by ChrisC1234 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Were there any things that you blended where the outcome was not what you expected?

  5. When the Big Appliance in the sky calls by paiute · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Will you be interred, cremated, or blended?

    --
    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  6. Worst Warranty Request? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Did anyone blend something they really shouldn't have and then send in for a warranty repair?

  7. Blades? by domulys · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Can you blend the blades of the blender?

  8. Will It Blend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What product created the most noxious byproducts after being blended? Have you ever had to get medical treatment or call out a HazMat team after blending a product?

  9. Why did you start doing the videos? by Jim+Hall · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd like to know how you got the idea to do the "Will it blend?" videos in the first place? As mentioned in the summary, it's one of, if not the greatest viral marketing campaigns of all time. Did someone at BlendTec just suggest out of the blue "You should do videos on YouTube", or were you looking for a new advertising idea and a clever marketer had this idea?

    Love the videos, by they way.

  10. Showdown: Blendtec blender vs. Ginsu knife! by ShadowCat8 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They always touted the Ginsu knife as being one of the most durable knives that "never needs sharpening".

    And, of course my question is.... Will it blend? ;)

    --
    "We have normality. I repeat, we have normality. Anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem."
  11. What is next for blender R&D? by Aristos+Mazer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Blenders do not seem like an area of technology with a lot of room for innovation, but I've been surprised before (Sears has a "hammer research division" that is kind of amazing). What do you see as the next big thing in blending? Perhaps plans for a reassembler?

  12. Re:Will it microwave? by iced_tea · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Blend-tec blender: Will it recursively blend?