Blenders Sunglasses 'Prime' line brings in $5 million in three days

Deion Sanders' shades are "Hard 2 Find," even if he's not
Blenders Sunglasses 'Prime' line brings in $5 million in three days
Blenders Sunglasses 'Prime' line brings in $5 million in three days /
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Deion Sanders has incredible style choices and it's the reason why he's part of GQ's Sports Style Hall of Fame. The hat and sunglasses has been part of his look as a coach, which has only been amplified since coming to Colorado.   

When Colorado State coach Jay Norvell fired a shot at Sanders, it was a negative that was flipped into a positive nearly overnight. Blenders, a sunglasses company, who collaborated with Coach Prime saw the opportunity of lifetime. They send glasses to the entire Buffaloes team to counter the ill-advised jab at Sanders. A move that netted $5 million in sales over the course of the weekend. 

Sanders took it personally and so did Blenders CEO and founder Chase Fisher. He told the San Diego Union Tribune how the relationship with CU came about over a cold call. A true story like Nike's Phil Knight "Shoe Dog" novel by selling running shoes out of the trunk of a car. Fisher was built to drive to success.  

“It’s probably the greatest right-time, right-place, random moment in social media history,” Fisher told the Tribune. “It feels as if Blenders became the face of pop culture in sports overnight. It’s hard to reconcile.

“The last 72 hours, to be honest, my life’s been an absolute movie. This is brand-transformational, truly, in front of our eyes.”

Blenders' new "Prime 21" sunglasses have been the hottest item on the internet since Norvell's comments and how Sanders responded was a thing of beauty. Coach Prime became a spokesman for the brand on the most popular sports shows, gifting pairs of Blenders to all the major ESPN hosts, along with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.


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Josh Tolle
JOSH TOLLE

Josh Tolle is a writer covering college sports for On SI. Outside of storytelling, the multi-talented broadcaster has play-by-play experience at the professional and collegiate levels. In 2018, he began calling games for the National Women’s Soccer League. He has also called games for the United Soccer League, Concacaf, and the U.S. Open Cup. He has called hockey for the Premier Hockey Federation for the past three seasons and was the play-by-play voice for the Superior RoughRiders of the Western Hockey League. He has provided play-by-play for various other sports including football, basketball, baseball and volleyball events. Since 2015, Tolle has been the voice of Colorado School of Mines Athletics having called football, men's and women's basketball and soccer. He previously wrote for SB Nation.