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Bud Light goes grade-school with sponsorship

With the NFL playoffs nearing the end of the road to Super Bowl XL, advertisers may be scrambling to find that next big sports sponsorship. And Bud Light apparently thinks it has scored big with its deal to promote the USA Rock Paper Scissors League.
According to the group's Web site, the USA Rock Paper Scissors League was formed to codify the rules of "the world’s greatest hand sport," although perhaps patty-cake aficiandos may beg to differ.
According to the group's Web site, the USA Rock Paper Scissors League was formed to codify the rules of "the world’s greatest hand sport," although perhaps patty-cake aficiandos may beg to differ. usarps.com
/ Source: msnbc.com

With the NFL playoffs nearing the end of the road to Super Bowl XL, advertisers may be scrambling to find that next big sports sponsorship. And Bud Light apparently thinks it has scored big with its deal to promote the USA Rock Paper Scissors League.

You may remember this "sport" from your childhood school recess: Two combatants literally go mano a mano in flurry of fist-pumping, my-rock-smashes-your-sneaky-scissors nonstop action.

With better pacing than tic-tac-toe, but with less chance for serious injury than thumb-wrestling, Bud Light obviously saw the enormous potential of the USARPS, helping to fund a tournament beginning this month in bars across the country. In April, 250 finalists will be flown to Las Vegas to compete for the $50,000 grand prize at The House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

A&E Network has also signed on to be the official media partner of the USARPS.  The network announced that they would cover the finals in a one-hour special to air after the live event. No word if Vegas bookies will be taking wagers.

"We're very excited to host the first USARPS tournament and name the first champion at a fun event in Las Vegas, where adults from across the country who have won tournaments in their hometowns can compete to determine the ultimate champion," said Dan Sprague, Bud Light product manager at Anheuser-Busch.

But limiting the tournament to "adults" could stifle competition, as we believe there are some second-graders out there who can paper over grown-ups' rock-throwing gambits hands down.

Not-so-bad ideas

  • Apple's iPod has taken the world by storm. Yet its seems our British friends across the pond can't figure out how they work.

Selfridges' flagship London department store is about to offer iPod tutorials for those folks who can't quite figure out how to use the diminutive digital-music players.The one-to-one "iPod Survival" sessions will seek to teach clients everything there is to know about the Apple device, including general use of the iPod, using iTunes, installing and deleting videos, creating playlists and downloading Podcasts, according to a report by the U.K.'s Press Association.All great stuff — though we'd recommend perhaps reading through the manual first since Selfridges is charging 65 pounds for its 40-minute tutorial. That's about $115 for the lesson. By the way, in the U.S., the iPod Shuffle starts at about $99.

Samsung's new convertible refrigerator has "the benefits of a traditional side-by-side refrigerator" and two additional drawer-type compartments, "with all four compartments having independent temperature control." All this "gives you the flexibility to go from freezer to fridge with just the touch of a button," says Samsung, apparently responding to the outsized appetites of the Supersize-Me Generation.And while we think a more-doors-the-better icebox sounds like a great idea, don't ask little Johnny to get himself a soda — he'll be gone for a week.