Candymaker pokes fun at ‘Deflategate’ scandal and raises $20,000 for charity
Hatke news, weird news, deflatable chocolate football, Pennsylvania candymaker, Deflategate, KDKA
PITTSBURGH: A dented chocolate football created by a Pennsylvania candymaker to poke fun at the New England Patriots’ ‘Deflategate’ scandal has ended up raising $20,000 for charity.
The chocolate ball weighs about 2.5 pounds. The owner sold it with two more regular-shaped chocolate footballs and helmets. Pic/AP
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A caption on the Facebook photo — ‘Net weight 13 lbs ... Oops! We meant 11.2 lbs’ — was a tongue-in-cheek reference to allegations that New England cheated by using under-inflated footballs in winning the AFC Championship game, which put the team in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
The ball, created by Sarris Candies of Canonsburg, was auctioned on Friday on KDKA radio to benefit the Dollar Energy Fund, which provides utility assistance for poor residents.
A local car dealer bid $5,000 for the chocolate ball, and that price was matched by candymaker Bill Sarris, whose business is about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh. The utilities organisation that help support the Dollar Energy Fund then matched that $10,000.
“What started out as an internal little joke ended up picking up momentum and excitement,” Sarris said. “It’s going to a good cause, so that’s the best thing.”
The chocolate football was molded with a dent to make it appear deflated. Sarris posted it on Facebook as a joke and initially didn’t intend to sell it. Instead, Sarris named the ball the Bradie ball — a reference to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady but with a different spelling to avoid legal issues.
The chocolate ball weighed about 2.5 pounds, and Sarris sweetened the deal by including two more regular shaped chocolate footballs and two chocolate helmets to make the Deflategate auction package worth about $500.
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