Tom Petty is this year's halftime act? I hope he doesn't have a wardrobe malfunction....

So the Super Bowl is on, and like millions of other indifferent football fans out there, I'll be running back and forth from the TV room to catch the commercials. (Turns out I could just catch them later on Myspace.)

Seems this year KFC's parent company, Yum Brands, didn't want to spring for the cost of Super Bowl airtime—or thinks it has found a clever way around the expense, which, if you're wondering, is $2.7 million price for a 30-second ad. Presumably the company might have used the time to promote its Hot Wings product, pictured above.

Instead, KFC is offering to make a $260,000 charity donation in the name of any player who scores during the game and does the chicken dance in the end zone.

Mmmm hmmm. Right. There have been some pretty silly dances so far, but I don't think any of them qualifies as the Chicken Dance quite yet. (Instructional video included!)

KFC spokesman Rick Maynard was quoted in MarketingDaily earlier this week: "There are lots of ways to advertise. We think this is unique, and will get people talking about something that might take place during the game itself."

Talk about expensive: If you wanted to have your Super Bowl experience in person, ticket prices reached a record level this year—$4,190—although the average price was expected to go down closer to game day.

Posted by QSMama at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Whew. Sooooooo glad it's Friday, even though I'll be working a bunch this weekend on other writing projects. Something about the weekend just makes everything easier.

So let's get started with some fun.

• Into football? Super Bowl Sunday is almost here, and quick-serve restaurants are gearing up for the annual "Super Bowl surge." But, according to this news release, some of those restaurants are trying a new strategy this year: Letting the customers handle placing and paying for their orders themselves, using a kiosk.

EMN8, the company that ran the release, says kiosks lead to faster service, line reduction and an estimated 15- to 30-percent increase on per-ticket sales.

Have you used a kiosk to self-order food? How did it go? The only time I've seen one in action (besides at a trade show, that is) was at a Sheetz location. Lots of people were mighty confused.

• Hilarious baby duds from Chipotle. If you can't make out the words in the picture, the onesie says, "Food goes in here. Comes out here." That pretty much sums it up.

• Check it out! Bush urges parents to get kids to play outdoors—now, while it lasts! So weird. The authorities want to make sure kids get outside and play for at least an hour each day. When I was a kid, I was like, Just try to stop me from playing outside for hours on end. What's happened?

Wait. This isn't fun.

• Ugh! But, you know, anything as big as a venti-sized drink is going to contain a lot of calories, unless it's water.

Oh, sorry. That's not much fun, either.

• But this is. Oh, K-Fed. Give it up already. And to the Natioanl Restaurant Association: Chill a little, okay? Sometimes it's okay just to laugh and let it go.

What do you think? Is that commercial offensive? Or just funny? Or neither?

Posted by QSMama at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)