Frito-Lay and the National Football League Name 8 Semi-Finalists in Search for the NFL's 'Most Fanatical Family'
03 December 2009 - 5:10AM
PR Newswire (US)
NFL Fans Can Vote Online to Determine Which Family Will Win a Trip
to Super Bowl XLIV PLANO, Texas and NEW YORK, Dec. 2
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America
division and the National Football League today announced the eight
semi-finalists in their search for the NFL's "most fanatical
family." Fans now can visit http://www.nfl.com/callingallfamilies
to watch videos of the semi-finalists and vote for the family they
want to be named the NFL's "most fanatical family." The winning
family will receive a five-day VIP trip to Super Bowl XLIV, which
will be played Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010, at Dolphin Stadium in South
Florida. The eight semi-finalists were selected from nearly 1,000
entries to Frito-Lay and the NFL's "Calling All Families" contest.
Fans from all around the country submitted a photograph of their
family on game day and an essay describing why they are the NFL's
most fanatical family. The eight semi-finalists are: -- Sommer
Anderson, a Green Bay Packers fan from Reno, Nev. Sommer and her
family's loyalty to the Packers traces back to their 89-year-old
Grandma Marcella, who was born in Green Bay and attended the high
school where the very first Packers team played. -- Sean Boardman,
a Dallas Cowboys fan in Westbrook, Conn. Sean and his family
professed their love for the Cowboys in a five-stanza poem, with
lines such as, "Dallas in the Super Bowl is what we'll be
wishin'/Yes, our love for the Cowboys is a Boardman family
tradition!" -- Reginald Collins, a Dallas Cowboys fan from Fort
Worth, Texas. Reginald grew up watching the team every week after
church on TV at his grandmother's house in Little Rock, Ark. Now
that Reginald lives in the Dallas area, his entire family has made
it an annual tradition to visit Reginald with their grandmother, so
Reginald can treat her to a Cowboys game in-person. -- Joanna
Filetto, a New England Patriots fan from Gloucester, Mass. Joanna
and her family have a Sunday tradition during football season: They
light Patriots candles, host all of their friends, and Joanna's
father, Cosimo Filetto, wears his lucky Patriots shirt, which he
does not wash all season long. As they explain it: "Sundays in our
household, we have a lot of food, and we're really loud. Come NFL
season, there's even more food and we're even louder!" -- Robert
Hurlbert, an Oakland Raiders fan from York, Pa. Robert and his
three brothers, all from the East Coast, have been known to make
back-to-back weekend red-eye trips to the opposite coast to
tailgate with local fans and cheer on their favorite team. --
Rachel Lugo, a Philadelphia Eagles fan from South Setauket, N.Y.
Rachel and her family are such devoted fans that 10 years ago, she
and her husband scheduled their wedding around Eagles game day, and
today, their young children can recite all the Eagles players'
names and numbers and prefer watching Eagles games to cartoons. --
Dru McCoy of The Barnes Family of Marion, Ind. The family is such
die-hard Indianapolis Colts fans that they plan their get-togethers
around game days. They also make a special point of trying to
convert their brother-in-law, the lone Packers fan of the bunch. --
Edward Vetalice, a Cleveland Browns fan from Mentor, Ohio. Edward
knew his wife was "a keeper" after she took him to a Browns game on
their first date. Today, Edward and his family are known for the
handmade orange-and-brown Browns-themed Santa Claus costumes they
wear every year for game watching. A panel of judges composed of
Frito-Lay and NFL executives selected these eight semi-finalists
based on several criteria, including team spirit, enthusiasm for
the game and demonstration of family gathering. Each semi-finalist
and their family traveled to NFL Films to record a video bringing
to life why they think they are the NFL's "most fanatical family."
Fans can watch the videos online and vote for their favorite
semi-finalist through Dec. 15 at
http://www.nfl.com/callingallfamilies. The two families that
receive the most votes then will go head-to-head Dec. 16, 2009 to
Jan. 3, 2010, with fans voting online to determine which family
will be named the NFL's "most fanatical family" and win the Grand
Prize -- a five-day/four-night trip for the winner and up to five
guests to attend Super Bowl XLIV, including round-trip air
transportation, hotel accommodations, suite tickets to Super Bowl
XLIV, and tickets to the Super Bowl Saturday Night Party and NFL
Tailgate Party. "These eight semi-finalists' creative ways of
showing their enthusiasm for their favorite NFL teams and bringing
their families together is truly special," says George Stroh,
Frito-Lay's Director of Sales Planning & Execution. "Frito-Lay
snack chips and dips also bring something special to game watching,
and we're looking forward to giving fans around the country the
chance to decide which of these semifinalists will win the Calling
All Families contest and receive a family memory that will last a
lifetime." "We are pleased to showcase eight of our most passionate
fans, their families and their game day traditions in the Calling
All Families contest," says Mark Waller, Chief Marketing Officer of
the NFL. "We have seen a variety of unique ways that families come
together to watch football, and we are excited to add to one
family's memories when they join us in South Florida at Super Bowl
XLIV." Voting is open only to legal residents of any of the 50
United States and District of Columbia. Visit
http://www.nfl.com/callingallfamilies for details. Frito-Lay North
America is the $12 billion convenient foods business unit of
PepsiCo. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site,
http://www.fritolay.com/, the Snack Chat blog,
http://www.snacks.com/, and on Twitter, @fritolay. PepsiCo offers
the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage
brands, including 18 different product lines that each generates
more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses -
Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make
hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy
to our consumers in over 200 countries. With more than $43 billion
in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who are united by
our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance
with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of
choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our
environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive
workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with
giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information,
please visit http://www.pepsico.com/. DATASOURCE: Frito-Lay
CONTACT: Katherine Ritchey of Frito-Lay, +1-972-334-3843, ; or
Joanna Hunter of NFL, +1-212-450-2449, Web Site:
http://www.fritolay.com/ http://www.nfl.com/callingallfamilies
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