Considering I did graduate from the University of Missouri-Columbia (the #7 ranked Journalism school in the country), I figure it’s about time to take all of the investigative journalism skills I learned through osmosis and apply them to one of the most pressing issues facing developing countries right now: ‘Are there kids in Zambia who really think the Bears won the Super Bowl two years ago?”
I’m not entirely sure if everyone is familiar with how the NFL handles the production of merchandise, so I’ll first give a crash course. Every year prior to the Super Bowl, the league manufactures t-shirts, hats, etc. that display two mutually exclusive messages. Half of the goods say that one team won, and half of the goods declare the other team as the victor. The premise behind this strategy is simple; fans of both sides want to have memorabilia commemorating their team’s victory as soon as the game ended and the NFL wants to capitalize on it.
What happens, though, to the merchandise for the team that lost? It obviously cannot be sold in the United States. It seems like a monumental waste to just throw it away. So, in an attempt to gain positive PR, a press release is issue announcing all of the ‘Insert Losing Team’s Name Here’ gear has been shipped to ‘Insert random country that no one ever visits here’.
So, imagine my excitement when my friend Tim informed me that Zambia was chosen as the ‘random country’ two years ago to receive the 'Chicago Bears Super Bowl Champions' gear.
For the next few months, I kept my head on swivel. I was giddy about seeing all of these erroneous sports references. You would think that, after eight months of living in a capital city of the above-referenced nation with a 2 million plus population, I would encounter at least one dood rocking this erroneous gear. You would be wrong. I’ve seen nothing. No hats, no t-shirts, no special lapel pins. Not even a giant foam finger.
I'm fairly confident there is not a single kid in Zambia who thinks the Bears won the Super Bowl. How is this possible? People deserve the truth. Zambia deserve their NFL apparel. I deserve to watch an episode of Boy Meets World and a package of Red Vines.
I’m not entirely sure if everyone is familiar with how the NFL handles the production of merchandise, so I’ll first give a crash course. Every year prior to the Super Bowl, the league manufactures t-shirts, hats, etc. that display two mutually exclusive messages. Half of the goods say that one team won, and half of the goods declare the other team as the victor. The premise behind this strategy is simple; fans of both sides want to have memorabilia commemorating their team’s victory as soon as the game ended and the NFL wants to capitalize on it.
What happens, though, to the merchandise for the team that lost? It obviously cannot be sold in the United States. It seems like a monumental waste to just throw it away. So, in an attempt to gain positive PR, a press release is issue announcing all of the ‘Insert Losing Team’s Name Here’ gear has been shipped to ‘Insert random country that no one ever visits here’.
So, imagine my excitement when my friend Tim informed me that Zambia was chosen as the ‘random country’ two years ago to receive the 'Chicago Bears Super Bowl Champions' gear.
For the next few months, I kept my head on swivel. I was giddy about seeing all of these erroneous sports references. You would think that, after eight months of living in a capital city of the above-referenced nation with a 2 million plus population, I would encounter at least one dood rocking this erroneous gear. You would be wrong. I’ve seen nothing. No hats, no t-shirts, no special lapel pins. Not even a giant foam finger.
I'm fairly confident there is not a single kid in Zambia who thinks the Bears won the Super Bowl. How is this possible? People deserve the truth. Zambia deserve their NFL apparel. I deserve to watch an episode of Boy Meets World and a package of Red Vines.
1 comment:
if you find some of those shirts will you bring me one?
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