Snuggle is a brand of fabric softener sold by Henkel North American Consumer Goods in the United States and Canada. The brand was launched in 1983 by Unilever. The product is available in sheets or liquid (in concentrate and non-concentrate forms).
Since the brand's launch in 1983, Snuggle Bear has been the mascot of the fabric softener, being built by well known Muppet builder Kermit Love. The bear has had a total of 3 voice actresses, Corinne Orr (from the brand's launch in 1983 until 1998), Micky Dolenz (sometime until 2008) and currently Elena M. Schloss, who's been playing the snuggly soft bear since 2009.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
In 1987, Macy's partnered with the Lever Brothers Company to help create a brand-new Snuggle Bear balloon, which would debut in that year's Macy's Parade. It measured in at 58 feet tall, 32 feet wide, and gobbled up 10,500 cubic feet of helium to help Snuggle float down the Parade route. The balloon was featured in a small segment on the 1987 NBC telecast, where it showcased the Snuggle balloon during its test flight in the DakotaDome.
On the character's debut in 1987, it was chosen to be the final balloon, but one of the highest flyers of the Parade that year. The balloon continued to appear throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, pleasing crowds of all ages. The balloon would also have a noteworthy appearance in 1993, where Willard Scott, one of the NBC hosts, would end up becoming one of Snuggle's handlers. The balloon made it's final flight down Broadway in 1994, and in 1995 was recycled into Eben Bear.
In addition to appearing in the main Parade, the balloon was temporarily moved to Disney's MGM Studios in December 1992 to help celebrate Macy's New York Christmas, a Christmas event where many Macy's parade balloons were perched upon the Streets of America. After this event, he was shipped back to Macy's Studio for the 1993 parade. He also appeared as a walk-around character with a number of characters upon the Toon Balloon-Abration float in 2001.
Trivia[]
- Snuggle was the fifth commercial character to appear in the Parade, with the fourth being Ronald McDonald, who coincidentally made his debut the same year as Snuggle.