Snoopy and Smeg
Smeg has teamed up with the group behind Snoopy to create a limited edition FAB10 fridge to commemorate Peanuts’ 70th anniversary.
He’s one of the world’s most beloved and recognisable dogs; his best friend is a little yellow bird (species unspecified); he loves to pretend he’s a World World II fighter pilot; and this frustrated novelist stubbornly sleeps on top of his kennel (of course he does; he’s a maverick). We’re talking, of course, about Snoopy, one of the leading characters from Charles M Schulz’s brilliant comic strip Peanuts which marks its 70th anniversary this year. Focusing on a bunch of peculiarly grown-up and neurotic kids, it’s Charlie Brown’s pet beagle (born October 4, 1950) who’s grabbed the, er, lion’s share, merchandise-wise: almost any surface you can think of has been plastered with those iconic features – and NASA has even made him their unofficial mascot. During the Apollo 10 mission, astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan even piloted a lunar module nicknamed “Snoopy”, almost as far as the moon.
And now you’ll find him adorning an equally iconic brand. Smeg, the Italian appliance range, has teamed up with Snoopy’s owners to create a limited edition FAB10 home mini-fridge. The design, featuring Snoopy and Woodstock, is only available on 70 fridges worldwide – and just 25 in the UK. Each fridge (containing two adjustable shelves and an ice box, along with further storage on the fridge door) comes with a silver plaque displaying its unique limited-edition number, so you know it’s something special.
This isn’t the first time Smeg has teamed up with another classic brand; previously, Disney, Dolce & Gabbana and Mini have benefited from this mutually beneficial cross-pollination. Founded in 1948 by a family of entrepreneurs, Today Smeg has 18 direct commercial subsidiaries (France, England, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the USA, South Africa, Australia, Mozambique, Poland and Mexico), a representative office in Saudi Arabia, and a network of distribution partners all over the globe. Among its accolades are a Wallpaper* Design Award, a Red Dot Design Award, an iF Design Award, and multiple Which? Best Buys. In 2015, Smeg was awarded 'White Goods Supplier of the Year' prize at the ERT Awards. Smeg’s name, by the way, is actually an acronym: Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla (or "Emilian metallurgical enamel works of Guastalla").
The Snoopy FAB10 fridge will be priced at £1,299 and available exclusively from Smeg’s London Store, 14 Regent Street, St James’s, SW1Y 4PH.