We're not in the habit of scanning the L.L. Bean catalogs, but a more-sophisticated colleague, Joe Gambardello, alerted us to L.L. Bean's latest wrinkle in winter marketing.
The legendary Maine clothing retailer is promoting what it calls a "vortex proof" winter coat, further evidence that a once-obscure phenomenon known only to geeks in the meteorological subculture has emerged as a national player.
We've heard of waterproof, bulletproof, even pet-proof, but this is a new one on us.
You might recall that the "polar vortex" seemingly came out of nowhere last January and became a media celebrity.
In reality it came out of the Arctic, where it had been spinning for eons, on occasion swirling into the continguous United States with a frigid ferocity.
Weathermen say they were long warned against inflicting such a technical term as "polar vortex" on a public that tends to be more interested in how the local football team is faring.
But with the suddenness of a swift-passing cold front, for reasons that remain unclear it became a household term last winter.
We do expect additional visits from the vortex in the coming weeks, but we hold that have nothing to fear but marketing, itself.