Kraft Heinz Launches Campaign To Make Day After Super Bowl A National Holiday
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - Kraft Heinz says the Monday after the Super Bowl will be a day off for its salaried employees, and has launched an online - if tongue-in-cheek - campaign to make "Smunday" a national holiday.
The food producing giant, which is co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh, has started a Change.org petition. If 100,000 signatures or more are collected at www.smunday.org , Kraft Heinz will send the petition to Congress "in the hopes of making this dream a reality."
A talking Heinz ketchup bottle details the plan in a new commercial.
"For the past 50 years, the greatest day on earth has been followed by the worst day on earth. You know what I'm talking about. That Sunday, glorious Sunday, the greatest day of the year. We eat. We drink. And we'll be merry. We do it, knowing that we're all just going to accept that the very next day is going to be the worst day of the year."
Watch Dave Crawley's report:
But the offer of a day off to its employees stands whether or not the petition succeeds. The petition claims more than 16 million people call in sick or miss work the day after the game.
Pittsburghers seem to relish the idea.
"Everyone's partying, just a little bit. So yeah, I think it's a great idea," one woman says.
"If they had too much to drink, it's a day off," a young man adds. "But otherwise, it's just a nice day to relax and enjoy everything."
A day off after the Super Bowl is all well and good. But the big guys who work at Heinz Field are getting a lot more time off than that.
Kraft-Heinz says the holiday needs a name that cuts the mustard.
"Smunday! You could be responsible for a new national holiday."
One Pittsburgh woman we spoke with was pleased to hear the idea. Why? She's a Kraft Heinz employee.
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