"Incentive" Giveaways

[slapshot]

I've seen a few minor league hockey teams have a "score 5 goals get free McDonald's fries" promotion. One was the Providence Bruins, the other was the Saint John Flames.

[The_Admiral]

The Flames' minor-league marketing now consists of "if you buy a ticket, you can watch a hockey game being played."

[ZapRowsdower8]

The Penguins used to give away free Wendy's Chilli if they scored 7 or more goals. This was back around 93-95 or so. Actually seemed to happen quiet a bit. Later they had a two minute window during which everybody would win FREE WINDOW WIPER FLUID!!! if the Pens scored. I want to say that was around 2002.

When I was living in St. Pete I went to many Rays games where they hit the 10 Ks free pizza deal. Never bothered going to the furniture store to pick up the voucher.

[The_Admiral]

Why are you required to go to a furniture store to procure a pizza voucher? It's bad enough they send you out of your way to Tropicana Field in the first place.

[Shumway]

If the Flyers score a powerplay goal, someone gets a case of Tastykakes. I honestly have no idea who actually gets them.

[Kramerica Industries]

I have no clue why they do it either. Honestly, I think I did the deal twice (once in 2009, the other in 2011), and, other than that, I couldn't even tell you where a Kane's Furniture is. The only time I ever hear anything about those places is during Rays games, television or in the stadium.

Not to mention, the 10+ strikeout deal isn't exactly challenging in today's baseball world. Players strike out more now than they ever used to. Without looking, I'd bet the Rays hit the 10+ plateau at least 55 times at home.

If the Flyers score a powerplay goal, someone gets a case of Tastykakes. I honestly have no idea who actually gets them.

Well-timed post. I always get amused listening to the highlights of Game 7 from the 2010 Flyers/Bruins series, and after every goal, Jim Jackson saying "[player x] scores for a case of tastykakes". I'm not sure I've ever heard any other telecast have that kind of promoting.

[Jer15]

When the Raptors score 100 you can take your ticket into a Toronto area Pizza Pizza and get a free cheese or pepperoni slice. Generally it results in the crowd chanting for Pizza too, lol.

The funniest thing that I've ever hear too is that when the Raptors are clearly going to loose they try not to hit 100 points in order to avoid the giveaway. Stupid.

[Lee.]

The Flames' minor-league marketing now consists of "if you buy a ticket, you can watch a hockey game being played."

Too bad it doesn't work.

[HedleyLamarr]

Chick-Fil-A sends people to a catwalk up in the lights at the Georgia Dome and they release stuffed cows riding parachutes that sail down into the crowd. I've never caught one so I don't know what the discount or reward is.

Your reward is that you get to take home a little 6' cow with a parachute attached to it. No coupons are involved.

[Lee.]

Chick-Fil-A sends people to a catwalk up in the lights at the Georgia Dome and they release stuffed cows riding parachutes that sail down into the crowd. I've never caught one so I don't know what the discount or reward is.

Your reward is that you get to take home a little 6' cow with a parachute attached to it. No coupons are involved.

No homo.

[Still MIGHTY]

Ducks have this thing now where if they score two goals in the second period, a selected row wins a bone-in ham from Farmer John.

They used to have a blimp shaped like a Serta mattress sheep named "Goaldie" (moving legs and all!) that dropped coupons for 10% off a mattress.

[The_Admiral]

I couldn't even tell you where a Kane's Furniture is.

In a pinch he's been known to use a table in the 10th grade science lab.

[Gothamite]

Milwaukee diner George Webb has had a standing promotion back to the 1940s that when the Brewers win 12 in a row they give away free burgers.

I went to a George Webb in Waukesha once and it's still in my all-time top ten instances of being amidst the absolute worst of humanity.

Yeah, but that's Waukesha. People who think Brookfield is "too cosmopolitan." Or maybe they're just mad that the Brewers moved Spring Training away from their burg and back to Florida in 1945.

[The_Admiral]

Milwaukee diner George Webb has had a standing promotion back to the 1940s that when the Brewers win 12 in a row they give away free burgers.

I went to a George Webb in Waukesha once and it's still in my all-time top ten instances of being amidst the absolute worst of humanity.

Yeah, but that's Waukesha. People who think Brookfield is "too cosmopolitan." Or maybe they're just mad that the Brewers moved Spring Training away from their burg and back to Florida in 1945.

Look. I don't claim to have an encyclopedic knowledge of Waukesha County. All I know is that the waitress was a crude amputee (which is to say that the means of restoring her missing leg were crude, not her manner), the cashier didn't have any teeth, a woman was talking to herself, and the other random patrons smelled strongly of tobacco in a non-smoking establishment, the kind of people who look embalmed in their own nicotine. It was the closest I've ever come to being in a David Lynch film.

[CubsFanBudMan]

The Bulls have a long-standing free Big Mac promotion for scoring 100 points in a win. Long ago, it was a free taco from Taco Bell.

There was a Taco Bell within a couple of blocks of the United Center, and a friend and I decided to collect right away after a game. We pulled up and ordered "two free tacos" and the response was: "Did the Bulls win?"

"Yes."

"What was the score?"

We relayed the score and got an expletive and a "pull up to the window" in response.

Not long after that, the threshold was bumped to 110 points, but it's back to 100 now. And that Taco Bell went dark years ago.

[BigEd76]

The Sixers have the 100+ points/Big Mac thing too.

To answer the Flyers question about the Tastykakes, Gene Hart's goal call in the 70s during the Cup years was "He shoots, he scores....for a case of Tastykake!" (the Philly area equivalent of Hostess or Drakes for those that aren't familiar with them), and every player that scored a goal got a case (which could be 18 to 24 packs depending on which kind they got). Sometime in the 2000s they started doing this again but only for the first player to score a goal in that game, and Jackson has continued the tradition ever since. The player donates the case to his favorite charity (since hockey players usually don't sit around eating Krimpets ).

[DaytonBlue]

CubsFanBudMan reminds me of a promo the Blues did during their 35th anniversary season. If they scored 5 goals, anyone could buy 35 cent tacos the next day at taco bell. It got crazy fast. The lines were so long that eventually employees started calling in sick if they knew it was 35 cent taco day. I think it lasted two seasons before they got rid of it. I remember having Senior Off-Campus Lunch and you had an extra 15 minutes to be back on campus if you had a free period before or after lunch. So this gave you about 40 minutes. We would barely have enough time to get the tacos and get back to school on time even though Taco Bell was just a couple blocks away.

[Kramerica Industries]

The Sixers have the 100+ points/Big Mac thing too.

To answer the Flyers question about the Tastykakes, Gene Hart's goal call in the 70s during the Cup years was "He shoots, he scores....for a case of Tastykake!" (the Philly area equivalent of Hostess or Drakes for those that aren't familiar with them), and every player that scored a goal got a case (which could be 18 to 24 packs depending on which kind they got). Sometime in the 2000s they started doing this again but only for the first player to score a goal in that game, and Jackson has continued the tradition ever since. The player donates the case to his favorite charity (since hockey players usually don't sit around eating Krimpets ).

I remember during Game 6 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals, after Keith Primeau's tying goal late in the 3rd period knotted the score at 4, that TPTB at the Wachovia Center were playing the chicken dance. Was there a deal with Chick-fil-a or something back around that time that awarded free chicken to attendees at Flyers home games where they scored 4+ goals?

(Around 1:24:30)

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-84sR8MBPs

[RyanMcD29]

When Syracuse basketball hits 75 points, it's TACO TIME! Free whatever cheap taco it is at Taco Bell when that mark gets passed

[topcityhockey]

My hometown junior hockey team has had a deal with pizza companies in the past. The first two seasons every time the team scored they would put a letter up, each letter equaled a $1 off the buffet at Cicis and if they scored 5 spelling out Cicis the buffet was free with a ticket from the game. Cicis ended up losing quite a bit because the teams in those two seasons were prolific scorers, we did not pay for lunch on the weekends very often. The deal changed this past year to another location and it is now $1 off a large pizza for each goal.