My Pillow, Inc., is a pillow manufacturing company based in Chaska, Minnesota. The company was founded in 2004 by Michael J Lindell, who invented and patented MyPillow, an open-cell, poly-foam pillow design.
My Pillow has sold over 25 million pillows, due mostly to My Pillow's 30-minute TV infomercials. It has also grown from 5 employees in 2004 to over 1,500 in 2017.
The company has been subject to several lawsuits related to false advertisement of their pillows' medical benefits and misrepresentation of Lindell's qualifications. The Better Business Bureau revoked My Pillow's accreditation in 2017.
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History
Origin
My Pillow was founded by Minnesota native Michael J. Lindell. For years he researched pillows and sleep disorders and experimented with fillers and fabrics before creating and patenting MyPillow, an open-cell, poly-foam pillow design. To help fund the development of the pillow, Lindell sold four bars he owned in Carver County, Minnesota, and mortgaged his house. At first, Lindell hand-sewed the pillows himself and handled all the sales and distribution with help from his family.
The first MyPillow was sold in 2005 at a kiosk in Eden Prairie Center, a mall in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. For the next six years, the company struggled, selling at mall kiosks, state fairs, and trade shows.
Promotion
The company's success took off after launching an infomercial in October 2011. The thirty-minute show was shot in one day in front of a live studio audience and cost $500,000 to produce and launch. As of September 2013, the infomercial was still running an average of 200 times per day on local and national networks. Since it first aired, My Pillow has sold more than 10 million pillows and grew from 50 employees to over 600.
In July 2015, Lindell and My Pillow sponsored an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the world's largest pillow fight at a St. Paul Saints baseball game. The fight featured 6,261 participants, beating a previous record of 4,201.
Operations
My Pillow's headquarters, call center and customer service center are located in Chaska, Minnesota. The company's 70,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Shakopee produces approximately 25,000 pillows per day. All products are American made.
Retail
My Pillow opened its first retail store in Burnsville, Minnesota in 2012 and, as of 2017, had grown to 17 locations in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. My Pillow products are also offered on QVC, at major retailers, trade shows, and from the My Pillow website.
Design and technology
My Pillow products are a patented design, involving a mix of different-sized pieces of open-cell poly-foam. Lindell claims to have tested 94 different foams before deciding on the right one. The pieces are chopped to specification by a machine Lindell developed based on a piece of farm equipment. The mix also contains a resin that enables the foam to retain much of its shape when molded to the user's preference. The pillows are non-allergenic, dust mite resistant, washable, and dryable.
Awards and recognition
Lindell and the My Pillow story have been featured on Imus in the Morning, The New York Times, Star Tribune, Fox News, and numerous radio and television stations across the country. In 2013, QVC awarded My Pillow its Q-Star Award for Product Concept of the Year.
Charitable work
A portion of MyPillow proceeds go toward The Lindell Foundation, a charity that assists addicts, veterans, cancer patients, and other people in need. In March 2015, My Pillow donated pillows to the Sandra J. Schulze American Cancer Society Hope Lodge facilities, which houses patients and their caregivers when traveling for treatment. Other charitable contributions include Eagles Healing Nest, Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation, International Disciples Foundation, Love, Inc., the Wounded Warrior project, and The Imus Ranch.
In August 2017, the Lindell Foundation created a special project to donate to the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Lawsuits and settlement
In April 2016, a class-action lawsuit was proposed for the pillows being falsely advertised, among the complaints being that Lindell is marketed as a "Sleep Expert," despite having no board certification or special training in sleep medicine. The Better Business Bureau has received 220 complaints regarding the company from 2013-2016.
On November 1, 2016, My Pillow agreed to pay $1 million ($995,000 in civil penalties and $100,000 California charities benefiting the homeless and victims of domestic violence) to settle a false advertising lawsuit brought in Alameda County Superior Court by Alameda County and eight other California counties. The lawsuit challenged the company's marketing claims, which asserted without proof that its pillows could treat symptoms of fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, cerebral palsy, acid reflux, and other conditions. As part of the settlement, the company was banned "from making claims in California that its pillows can cure or treat diseases and their symptoms without a human trial to back up the statements."
Ratings and reviews
In January 2017, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) announced it had revoked the accreditation for MyPillow and had lowered their rating from an A+ to an F based upon numerous consumer complaints. The main issue addressed by the BBB was the constant use of their buy one, get one free (BOGO) offer. The BBB's Code of Advertising requires that offers or discounts must be made for a limited time, or the deal becomes the normal price of the product.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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