Is That Really a Thing?!

Get Your Own, Rover!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it - I'm a day late posting this week's ITRAT. I've recently taken on three extra writing projects, so it's been very hectic around here. One of those projects is a blog, called "Unsolicited Advice," for the Oklahoma State Daily O'Collegian. It's a spinoff of my Advice King bi-weekly column and will have some of the matierial from this blog syndicated, but there will be a lot of different content, as well. If you're interested, you can check it out at http://advicefromjess.wordpress.com/.

Okay. So. This business of this week's ITRAT. I have to admit, although I think the topic I'm discussing today is abysmally ridiculous, it did also kind of make me go, "Awwww, isn't that cute!"

Anyway, here it is.





Finally, the brilliant minds who brought us the Snuggie have outdone themselves by extending the line of wearable blankets to dogs. Now you can buy your dog one of his very own - now maybe he'll quit stealing yours!

Thank goodness we have marketers out there who are thinking beyond the obvious and providing solutions to our most critical issues! For example:

If you're cold...

Obvious solution: ...get a blanket.

Beyond the obvious solution: ...wear your blanket like a bathrobe turned backward! Never again shall you have the arduous task of holding your blanket while you lie around doing absolutely nothing; behold, the Snuggie!

If your pet is cold...

Obvious solution: ...buy him a little pet sweater. It's not like dogs have some protective layer of fur or something to help them achieve homeostasis in hot or cold environments... Wait. Crap. Yes they do.

Beyond the obvious solution: ...buy him a Snuggie! If you're the type of owner who loves your pet like family, and to whom doggie sweaters simply weren't pointless enough, then this Snuggie is for you!

Sidebar: Am I the only person who clearly sees that the Snuggie for pets works exactly like a pet sweater?! The mechanics are identical! I'm just sayin'.

Yes, it appears that the cumbersome process of covering ourselves with a blanket has finally been streamlined! Think of all of the ways you will save yourself time and precious energy, which can then be channeled into such activities as raising your toothbrush to your automatic toothpaste dispenser!

I'm obviously joking with my faux-endorsement of this product; however, the video ad above is serious, despite its appearance otherwise. I seriously thought this was a skit on Saturday Night Live the first time I saw this.

Wow, with all of the advances in pet technology (the Snuggie, the Poo Trap), pretty soon we won't need to walk, feed, bathe, play with, or even acknowledge our dogs - there will be new inventions, each more clever than the last, that will take the work out of owning pets.

You know, or, you could just, I dunno, not have a pet?