WICHITA — Paul Teutul Jr. is having a busy day making the rounds at Coleman and in Wichita today (and will be signing autographs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight in Old Town Square).
The “American Chopper” star has customized Coleman’s RoadTrip Grill, a portable grill that normally sells for $179.
Teutul’s version will debut early next year and retail for $199.
He incorporated some motorcycle elements, such as a “nifty speedometer thermometer” as well as the logo for his new Paul Jr. Designs company.
There are some distinctly Coleman features he added, too.
“The Coleman lantern . . . is such a branded thing, we figured, well, why not use them?” Teutul says of some chrome hooks in the shape of lanterns that he added.
But there aren’t any obvious motorcycle flames or anything like that.
“That is cool sometimes,” Teutul says. “I like when the . . . theme is more integrated.
“It’s easy to put paint on something,” he says.
That and graphics, he says, are “an easy way out.”
Teutul says, “The theme is in the bike — not on the bike.”
Also, he says, not as many people might buy the grills “if you go way over the top.”
CEO Sam Solomon says a lot of people have ideas for Coleman products.
“People e-mail us, they call us, they stop us in the airport,” he says.
Teutul and the grill customization were a natural, though, Solomon says.
“I knew his fan base and our customer base have a large overlap.”
Teutul’s work on the grill will be featured in several episodes of “American Chopper,” which airs on TLC.
“The fun of this is how do you take an American icon and . . . really transform it and make it appeal to a much broader audience?” says Jeff Willard, senior vice president of global marketing and new product development.
He says the exposure also is good for the city.
“We’re going to make Wichita part of the story,” Willard says.
Teutul is joining Coleman for future projects as well.
“Yeah, we’re working on some different things — top secret stuff,” he says.
Teutul did, though, promise to give us the stories first.
6 Comments
Wow! What a maven of design! I think I’ll chrome plate my trash can and try and market it for a reality show.
Go back to American Chopper before Paul Sr. cuts you out of the will. You’ll need the money. (And who’s the genius at Coleman that approved this? I thought my employer did some stupid stuff….)
Go for it, hiphop. I’m not in the market for a new trash can, but I’m thinking I will be looking for this grill next year. I also would like to know who the genius was that green lighted this deal. He deserves kudos. Your employer probably does some stupid stuff… keeping you on MIGHT be one of them. A chromed trash can? Apparently this was your idea and not your employers.
What a bust. This was lame, normally I try to give things & people benefit of the doubt…..Its all fluff, its all about advertising, two entities getting together to try and help each other out with advertising, the end product isn’t any different, doesn’t work any better, just more expensive…..both Entities need to get back to their roots, American Made, High Quality, Pride in Craftsmanship….
@mopar, speaking of stupid things, you might look up the definition to ’sarcasm’. Whenever you get done polishing your bbq grill, that is.
What was really great was when Paul,Jr. left after an hour. He lived up to his reputation. My family got there about 7:10 and all that was left was and empty stage with his “customized” grill on it and and empty table with some used Sharpies. Class Act Paul,Jr.
Oh snap! I guess you told me. (ya think I get sarcasm yet?)