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Gardiner's Furniture store is pulling in more publicity than it could buy. That's because they pulled off a great marketing stunt ahead of Sunday's Ravens-49ers Super Bowl game.
The furniture store announced before the game:
"If Baltimore runs back either the opening kick-off of the game or of the second half for a touchdown, everything you buy will be FREE!" according to Gardiners' Facebook page. It didn't happen on the opening kick-off, but when the Ravens received the kick-off at the opening of the second half, Jacoby Jones ran the ball from one end zone to the other, scoring six points for the Ravens and free furniture for fans.
And, uh, they did run it back. Which put Gardiner's for an estimated $600,000 in sales. Luckily, they had insurance, which means they won't be losing lots of money on this.
You Chiefs fans who lived in Kansas City in 1999 should realize this is all so familiar. BrandsMart, an electronics store in Kansas City, pulled off a similar stunt.
BrandsMart made national headlines in 1999 with a marketing gimmick whereby any appliance of $400 or more bought in the week before the Kansas City Chiefs-San Diego Chargers game would be free if the Chiefs blanked the Chargers.
OF COURSE the Chiefs blanked the Chargers -- 34-0. Here's the box score from that game. It's the only memorable part of the totally forgettable 1999 season.
The odds are out there someplace but let me ask you which is more unlikely: a regular season shutout or a Super Bowl kickoff return?