McDonalds’ — the company that is actively advertising the fact that some consumers believe there might be horse meat in its burgers — has a good idea for how it could be the target of additional mockery, with a plan to actually use the apostophe-abusin’ slogan “Lovin’ Beats Hatin'” in an upcoming campaign. [More]
Super Bowl
NFL Thinks It Can Ask Super Bowl Halftime Acts To Pay To Perform
By 8.19.14
Dear NFL: Do you feel that warm, oozing sensation on your arms? It’s the wax melting on your man-made wings as you fly too close to the sun. In an astounding act of hubris, the NFL is reportedly asking some of the biggest names in music if they would be willing to pay for the privilege of putting on a show during the halftime of the next Super Bowl. [More]
Time Warner Cable Customers Lose Signal During Super Bowl
By 2.3.14
“Whatever you are passionate about, Time Warner Cable invents ways for you to enjoy it even better,” Time Warner Cable declares in commercials that run for its subscribers. Unless you’re passionate about professional football, live near Los Angeles and you’re a Time Warner customer still using a standard-definition TV. Then you had to scramble for an antenna during the second quarter of the game. [LA Times] [More]
Store Loses Super Bowl Bet, Gives Away $7 Million Worth Of Furniture
By 2.3.14
A furniture store in Houston has to give $7 million worth of furniture away to its customers after losing a bet on the Super Bowl. Don’t feel bad for the store owner, though: from his point of view, this is a good thing. Not because he’s a terrible business owner, but because the promotion got customers in the door, got the store’s name in the news, and just might create long-term customers. [More]
Old Spice Slips Phone Number Into Commercial…Where Callers Could Win Super Bowl Tickets
By 1.31.14
In a current ad for Old Spice shampoos, a man’s hair charms a female co-worker, and she writes down her phone number. One viewer of the ad noticed something strange about that number: it was toll-free. More importantly, why didn’t it use 555 for the first three digits like most fictional phone numbers do? There was only one thing to do: call the number and find out. [More]
Hazmat Teams Investigating Suspicious White Powder Found At 3 Hotels Near Super Bowl
By 1.31.14
UPDATE: Several media outlets are reporting that testing on the white powders found at three hotels near MetLife has proved the substances to not be hazardous. So, whew. [More]
Super Bowl Ticket Scalpers Need A Hug Because Nobody Is Making Them Rich This Year
By 1.30.14
Can we pause for a moment to reflect on the plight of the lowly Super Bowl ticket scalper? He toils thanklessly for his art and all he asks in return is that you pay him several thousands of dollars to watch a football game in which you probably have no personal stake. With heartless, penny-pinching fans taking a risk by purchasing their Super Bowl tickets through “legitimate” means, this year’s scalpers may be forced to sink to selling NHL or NBA tickets just to pay the rent. [More]
Officials Bust Two Men Accused Of Peddling Fake Premium Super Bowl Tickets
By 1.29.14
Whenever there’s a big event in town, people are going to start looking for any kind of deal they can score to get in. And when those people go searching, inevitably scammers find them and try to sell unsuspecting fans fake tickets. This year’s Super Bowl is no different, as officials say two men have been accused of shilling bogus tickets to the big game and fake passes for cushy parties in New York. [More]
Super Bowl Might Be A Super Bust For Area Hotels
By 1.28.14
Tickets to the Super Bowl might cost you a pretty penny, or 270,000 of them, but you can certainly find a good deal on a hotel room. The game billed as so big it needs two cities might have bitten off more than it can chew – or sell. [More]
Do Many People Really Buy New TVs For The Super Bowl?
By 1.24.14
If you look around the Internet this week, you’ll see any number of stories advising you on the best TVs (and best deals on those TVs) for watching the upcoming Super Bowl. Given all this attention, you might think that tons of people are rushing to stores to snatch up big screens. But this may be much ado about very little. [More]
Should Season Ticket Holder Seniority Be A Factor In Super Bowl Lotteries?
By 1.23.14
For many sports fans, having season tickets is like a marriage. It’s expensive in the beginning and maybe gets even pricier, but you know when you commit at the start that it’s a relationship meant to last a long time. And heck, maybe you’ll get to go the Super Bowl if you put enough time in and stay loyal. The marriage metaphor falls apart there, but that’s how one disappointed family felt after 50 years of having season tickets. [More]
The Cheapest Ticket To The Super Bowl Right Now (For The Worst Seats) Is $2,700
By 1.21.14
Unless you’re the kind of fan who’s got an emergency cache of cash ready to unload at the moment your team gets to Super Bowl XLVIII, you’re probably not willing to fork over the kind of dough that’s currently being demanded for tickets this year. Even the cheapest (and worst) seats, all the way up in the back at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, pack a punch of a price at $2,700. [More]
Should NFL Teams Restrict Out-Of-State Fans From Buying Tickets?
By 1.13.14
Next Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers will travel north to Seattle to face the Seahawks for a spot in the Super Bowl, while the New England Patriots fly west to Denver for a showdown with the Broncos. But if hometown fans of the two visiting teams want to get tickets for either of these games, they’ll have to get them on the secondary market. [More]
Sick Of Husband’s Gambling, Wife Alerts Authorities To $600K Super Bowl Pools At Local Bar
By 12.23.13
All around the country, local bars operate betting pools where patrons pay a set fee to buy a shot at taking home everyone else’s cash. At lots of bars, the price for a box is reasonable, but some pools charge thousands of dollars to check off a single box. These pools often go ignored by police and other authorities, but after the wife of a Staten Island gambler complained to the state about the large sums being wagered at a local bar, that establishment is no longer accepting bets. [More]
This Year’s Super Bowl Is Apparently Mordor (You Can’t Just Walk There), Also No Tailgating (Orcs?)
By 12.10.13
Metlife Stadium in Rutherford, N.J. is the site of the next Super Bowl. But it’s also akin to the ravaged and dangerous land of Mordor, a place where no one is allowed to sit in lounge chairs or grill sausages. The rules for the game have been set, and there’s no tailgating (orcs are attracted to cooking meat) and you can’t just walk into it. [More]
Baltimore Furniture Store Makes Good On Super Bowl Pledge To Give Away Free Furniture
By 2.5.13
A Baltimore furniture store isn’t bummed that the Ravens won the Super Bowl, but if not for some clutch foresight by its owner, the store might’ve been out $600,000 worth of merchandise. See, the store ran a special promotion to encourage customers to come in and buy items during the Super Bowl: If a kick was returned by the Ravens for a touchdown, all products purchased between Jan. 31 and 3 p.m. on the day of the game would be free. [More]
Why A Super Bowl Loss Is Good News For Kids In Mongolia & Zambia
By 2.4.13 — Updated: 1.31.17
Even for people who don’t follow football, Super Bowl Sunday is a de facto holiday here in the U.S., filled with its own rituals, language and imagery. It’s also a time to celebrate for people in some underdeveloped countries, who will reap the benefit of the 100,000+ pieces of clothing that the NFL can’t sell. [More]
When Should Your Super Bowl Pizza Arrive? How About Four Hours Late?
By 2.4.13
We get it: Super Bowl Sunday is to pizza delivery places what Valentine’s Day is to florists and April 15th is to tax cats. It’s the crunchiest of crunch times, and that’s when things can go wrong. What reader P. wonders, though, is whether it’s reasonable to expect your pizza within four hours of the time you requested it for, especially when you called in the order seven hours in advance. [More]
