Product demonstrations have been the foundation for Weber's success. There are legendary stories of George Stephen parading around offices and hardware stores showing people his masterpiece.
The ironic part is that at times people laughed at the design of the kettle, some actually called it “Sputnik.” The laughs and jokes turned into jaw-dropping reactions when they tasted the amazing food that came off his glorious Weber kettle.
When George's idea started to really take hold, the kettle began to travel around to more hardware stores and tv studios to show off its performance. It was at this point that Weber started to silkscreen the word “DEMO” onto the kettle, which signified it was a demonstration unit.
These units were given to specific sales reps and friends of George, who were entrusted on the weekends to set-up shop outside of local stores to show off the kettle. Through these demonstrations, people had the best product experience because not only did they see it in action, they also got to taste the delicious food that came right off the grill!!
These “demo” units were rare and are now near impossible to find. Weber was lucky enough to find a fan who wanted them to have one of these grills back. Our “demo” unit is from the late 50’s, early 60’s. We keep our "demo" unit proudly on display as a symbol of the importance to teach, train, and educate people on how to grill the Weber way.
So, as we celebrate George this month, let's all grill something special and “demo” our favorite foods for our family, friends, and guests!!
