Food company Kraft Heinz has announced that, rather than dole out massive cash for a Super Bowl commercial this year, the business will instead give salaried employees the day off after the big game.
“The Heinz brand doesn’t settle on delivering superior taste or quality,” Nicole Kulwiski, head of Heinz brands, said in a statement. “And we don’t believe America should have to settle on the day after the best sports day of the year.”
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Without a doubt, the effort is certainly aimed at drumming up press and positive attention during a popular ad season, doing so through some unconventional, innovative and creative means.
Consider that, in addition to giving its own salaried employees the day off, Kraft Heinz is also advocating for the day after the Super Bowl — referred to as “Smunday” — to become a national holiday, even launching a comical video and a Change.org petition to try and push the idea, as AdWeek reported.
“Make that Monday more like Sunday,” the petition reads in part. “Make it a SMUNDAY and have more Sunday on your Monday than any of us have ever had in our lives.” Here’s more:
We can all agree that going to work the Monday after the “Big Game” on Sunday is awful. So as far as we’re concerned at Heinz, we as a nation should stop settling for it being the worst work day of the year. We don’t settle for that awesome football Sunday to be just like every other day of the year. No. We eat. We drink. And we be merry, having the tastiest times of our lives. But then the very next day we settle for that Monday being a terrible work day.
Statistics show over 16 million people call in sick or just don’t show up to work. And for those that do, productivity plummets so far that the country loses on average around $1 billion (true story). Enough with the madness. This is where YOU come in.
So, to affirm it’s commitment to the holiday cause, the company is offering employees the day off on Feb. 6. Of course, the whole campaign seems silly — and it is — but Kulwicki said Kraft Heinz is committed to trying to make it happen, aiming to get 100,000 signatures on the petition, as AdWeek noted.
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“That’s how many we think we need to get Congress to take us seriously,” Kulwicki said. “We’re doing this in good fun, but with the intent that it will actually become a national holiday.”
Good luck to Kraft Heinz. So far, the petition has just 3,500 signatures, but that could certainly change in the coming days. Also, this same thing was apparently tried by Coke Zero back in 2012, but to no avail.
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