Many felt that Texas A&M was overrated heading into the 2014 season because of Johnny Manziel. Then sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill went out and threw for an Aggies single-game record 511 yards en route to a 52-28 win over 9th-ranked South Carolina. And a bunch of people won free furniture in the process.
The Ashley Furniture branch in College Station ran a promotion from Aug. 16 through Aug. 27 where all furniture purchased would be free if Texas A&M beat South Carolina by at least 10 points. Considering the Aggies were an 11-point underdog, the store had to be feeling good about its chances. Oh well.
“We’ve wanted to do this for three or four years now,” store owner Mark Wilks told ESPN.com on Thursday night. “This was really good for us. We’re going to have a big check-writing party at the store.”
Wilks wisely took out an insurance policy on the promotion, so he said his store actually had its best month of sales in the eight years it has been open. He also noted that the insurance was pretty cheap since the odds were so heavily stacked against Texas A&M.
Retail stores run promotions like this all the time, and the consumer rarely ever comes out on top. That’s usually because the odds are stacked against the buyer, such as that store that offered free furniture if the Baltimore Ravens did this in the Super Bowl. As we all know all too well, nothing is a sure thing in sports.
