A year ago, The Acton Exchange published a story entitled, “Who won the food fight at Super Bowl parties in Acton?” So, I admit that I had some preconceived notions of what my neighbors’ gameday essentials would be again this year.
But when I asked Danny O’Brien of Idylwilde Farms, “What are people buying for their Super Bowl LX parties in Acton?,” he told me, “Fire braised pork ribs … gluten free.”
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
So, this prompted me to expand my consciousness and our coverage of Big Game parties in the Acton community to see if I could discover other surprises. I talked with almost a dozen managers at area grocery stores, liquor stores, and convenience stores and noticed an interesting pattern.
Although Budweiser (“American Icons”) and Lay’s (“The Last Harvest”) had released their Big Game ads ahead of time to influence what “consumers” would buy for their Super Bowl LX parties, that’s not necessarily what “the Acton community” was buying.
Christina and Krystal at Buscemi’s Liquors & Variety, 37 Main St. in Acton, reported that Budweiser was the favored beer. However, Rick Gilpatrick over at Colonial Spirits, 87 Great Road (Rt 2A), reported that Cloud Hopper, a New England IPA by Dirigible Brewing Company, was flying off their shelves.
Why is this noteworthy? Well, Dirigible Brewing Company, which is based in Littleton,, didn’t buy a TV commercial during the 2026 Super Bowl, which cost an average of $8 million for a 30-second spot, with some premier spots reaching $10 million or more.
So, you could say that Dirigible, which also makes the commemorative Isaac Davis Brown Ale, was able to “crash the Super Bowl.” In other words, the Littleton micro-brewery enabled fans to crash the exclusive party of big-budget corporate commercials.
But wait, there’s more!
Cece at Mei Ya Asian Market, 279 Great Rd, Great Road (Rt 2A), reported that Lay’s potato chips were in high demand at her grocery store. But she also reported that dumplings were in high demand for Super Bowl parties in the Acton community — and no companies had purchased an expensive ad to promote dumplings during the Big Game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.
Chris Harris, who has been working for 45 years at Donelan’s of Acton, 248 Great Rd, reported a similar phenomenon. Tostitos, Doritos, and Lay’s are all major snack brands owned by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. They are often marketed together, featuring in combined variety packs, and share similar distribution channels. While these chips were moving fast at his supermarket, so were salsa, 7-layer bean dip, cupcakes, cakes, and chicken wings.
Viresh Patel of the Indo-American Convenience Store, 485 Great Rd. also reported that the Acton community was buying snacks for their Super Bowl LX parties. But the snacks people were buying at his local, Indian-American grocery store weren’t the major snack brands that are owned by Frito-Lay, and they hadn’t been promoted with an ad during the big game.
In addition, Kat McKenna, the shop manager of Eve & Murray’s Farm to Home, 525 Massachusetts Ave., reported that chips were “the perfect accompaniments” to what people were buying for their “Superbowl bash.” But the main items were cheese and charcuterie platters, sandwich platters, and natural wine. And, as you’ve already logically deduced, none of these was promoted with a 30-second commercial before, during, or after the game.
And these weren’t the only local shops and stores that were crashing the Super Bowl this year.
Managers at three local stores were all proud of their game day displays. Trader Joes at 145 Great Rd.had everything you need to make your own guacamole. Stop & Shop at 252 Main Street, displayed plenty of cupcakes, along with cold wings and chicken salad, and Roche Bros. at 387 Massachusetts Ave. had an entire display of the manager’s tailgate favorites.
And all three of these grocery stores were focused on selling products for Super Bowl parties without any connection whatsoever to TV commercials during the Big Game.
Meanwhile, over at USA Today’s Ad Meter, people were rating the 54 ads that aired during Super Bowl LX. Budweiser’s “American Icons,” with an average rating of 4.00/5, came in first. And Lay’s “The Last Harvest,” with an average rating of 3.80/5, came in second.
But it’s worth noting that the criteria used to rate all 54 ads had absolutely no connection to the sales of these products.
Now, this disconnect isn’t breaking news. Back in February 2020, I wrote an article for Search Engine Journal entitled, “Is a Super Bowl Ad the Equivalent of Lighting Money on Fire?” And here’s how I answered this rhetorical question: “Well, it depends on how you measure your results.”
Meanwhile, our neighbors in Maynard may have just taught us to ask a related question: “When does good publicity become so effective that you buy the product?”
Well, over the past two weeks, the town has garnered significant publicity for temporarily changing its name to “MAYEnard.” The name change was a symbolic, one-day-only gesture to honor New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye leading up to Super Bowl LX.
Here are the key details of the “MAYEnard” campaign:
- Official vote: The Maynard Select Board unanimously approved the name change in a meeting on Feb. 3, 2026, that was packed with residents and media, which one board member noted was the largest crowd in 15 years.
- Local support and cost: The initiative cost the town zero taxpayer dollars. A local business, KVC Builders, created special “Welcome to MAYEnard” signs.
- Merchandise and hype: Diana Isgur sold out her “DRAKE MAYEnard” t-shirts and sweatshirts through her “Crafts for a Cure” Facebook page, with all $800 in proceeds donated to the American Cancer Society. And when I visited the Dunkin’ location at 5 Waltham St. on the morning of Feb. 8, “MAYEnard” doughnuts were sold out.
So, the name change, which was the brainchild of David Gavin, chair of the Maynard Select Board, was an infectious idea. And it’s worth noting that Gavin is originally from Acton.
I asked Gavin for a quote and he said, “We were thrilled at the way this whimsical idea took off and brought so much enthusiasm with it. Our residents were excited beyond expectations and the business community responded in a resounding way as well.”
He added, “To see this idea explode in the media was incredible.”
Gavin observed, “In a time when our world is full of debate and disagreement, we were able to unite the entire town and region in a positive way. What could be better than that?”
He concluded, “We are hopeful that Drake Maye takes us up on our invitation to visit our community in the near future. That would be icing on the proverbial cake!”
If that happens, then Gavin is going to have a lot of old friends from Acton who will want to be seen as members of the North MAYEnard community.
But as a former winner of the Golden Ruler Award for Excellence in Public Relations Measurement for a Southwest Airlines case study entitled, “You Are Now Free to Link PR and Sales,” I would like to respectfully ask, “Could all that good publicity have produced even more benefit for the town’s taxpayers, businesses, and charities?”
In other words, creative advertising (and effective publicity) can do more than just get people’s attention. It can also impact how they feel and think about a brand (or town). And it can prompt people to take action, as well.
So, what could civic, business, and community leaders in Acton as well as Maynard do differently next year?
Well, Acton’s Economic Development Committee could work with neighboring economic development committees to identify “tentpole events,” which are major, high-visibility, and often recurring holidays (e.g. President’s Day, Patriots’ Day, and Independence Day), shopping days (e.g. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Restaurant Week), or sports championships (e.g., Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup), around which town governments, local businesses, and community organizations can anchor their marketing strategies. These events provide a predictable, high-profile opportunity to generate maximum brand awareness, engagement, and sales.
Who knows what might happen if MAYEnard (Maynard), North MAYEnard (Acton), East MAYEnard (Concord), South MAYEnard (Sudbury), and West MAYEnard (Stow) worked together to crash another Super Bowl in the foreseeable future? Do you think we could produce even more benefit for our region’s taxpayers, businesses, and charities?
Greg Jarboe writes on a variety of topics for the Acton Exchange. He is on the Acton Economic Development Committee and the Acton Finance Committee.
