Blendtec's 2006 "Will It Blend?" videos showed founder Tom Dixon destroying iPhones, iPads, and golf balls in a lab coat. The viral stunt drove a 700% sales increase by turning a boring product into something people couldn't look away from.
Back in 2006, Blendtec was an unknown company selling blenders until their marketing director had a pretty wild idea. They started blending iPhones, marbles, golf balls, and even a wooden rake handle on camera to show the durability of their product. Now here's what's crazy. This bizarre Will It Blend campaign increased Blendtec sales by 700% almost overnight. So how does exactly watching someone obliterate an expensive iPhone make you want to buy a blender? The genius was in the simplicity. Founder Tom Dixon donning a lab coat and then asking that now famous question, will it blend? And here's the other crazy nugget. These weren't polished published commercials with fancy sets and actors. These were raw, unscripted experiments that felt authentic and relatable. When you watched an iPad turn to dust, you weren't just entertained, you were witnessing a product demonstration disguised as entertainment. Now, while you laughed at the destruction, your brain was registering something else entirely. These blenders are insanely powerful and durable, and if Blendtec blender can pulverize marbles, imagine what it could do for your morning smoothie. The campaign wasn't just about viral mayhem, it was stealth marketing that proved the product's quality in the most memorable way possible. Turns out sometimes that the best way to sell something ordinary is to do something extraordinarily weird with it.
