ESPN Zone Expands Ultimate Couch Potato Contest
Extreme couch potato enthusiasts will have another competitive venue to demonstrate their skills when ESPN Zone expands its annual Ultimate Couch Potato contest to its New York location on New Year’s Day.
The competition started six years ago in the Chicago ESPN Zone as a one-time novelty to remind local customers the restaurant was there at a time of year when trade from tourists and business travelers is slow. But the stunt took on a life of its own, according to Brian Hanover, ESPN Zone’s regional marketing manager, who estimates it generated $500,000 in free publicity through press coverage last time around – including a story by the BBC.
“More than anything, it’s a PR play,” said Hanover. “It’s all about sports, watching televised sports in the ultimate environment, and that’s what ESPN Zone is all about.”
The contest launched yesterday at http://www.espnzone.com. There people submit essays of 200 words or less on why they have what it takes to be the ESPN Zone Ultimate Couch Potato. A field of 100 applicants made the effort last year, with four competitors ultimately facing off.
The winners, from among eight finalists to be selected for New York and Chicago, will receive $7,000 grand prize packages, including a 42-inch Olevia LCD HD TV, a DreamSeat recliner, a year’s subscription to ESPN the Magazine, $200 in ESPN Zone gift certificates—and, of course, the Ultimate Couch Potato trophy bearing a real potato. All competitors receive V-Moda earphones and ESPN Zone gift packs, and those who stick it out for at least 12 hours of continuous big-screen viewing take home a DreamSeat recliner emblazoned with their favorite team’s logo.
The contest runs through Dec. 14.
The winner resides in a dimension never contemplated by any casual couch potato. Last year’s winner, Chicago accountant Jason Pisarik, watched 39 hours and 55 minutes worth of bowl games and ESPN programming. Pisarik, who returns to defend his potato on New Year’s Day, was also the previous year’s winner, logging 30 hours. (That’s still well short of the Guinness Book of World Records standard of 69 hours, 48 minutes.)
The rules are straight out of Guinness, with contestants permitted a five-minute stretch every hour, and 15 minute breaks every eight hours between sitting on recliners in front of a 16-foot projection screen flanked by 12 42-inch screens.
ESPN Zone issues a call for applications on its site, and sends e-mails to its VIP customers to solicit entrants. But that hardly seems necessary: Hanover reports receiving calls months in advance from eager wannabe couch potato kings.
