Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kraft Heinz says the Monday after the Super Bowl will be a day off for its salaried employees, and it has launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign to make the day — dubbed "Smunday" — a national holiday.
The food producing giant is co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh, neither of which has a team in the Feb. 5 game.
The company has started a Change.org petition and launched a website, www.smunday.org . If enough signatures are collected, Kraft Heinz says it will send the petition to Congress "in the hopes of making this dream a reality."
The day off for employees stands whether or not the petition succeeds. The petition claims more than 16 million people call in sick or miss work the day after the game.
The company says the decision impacts "thousands of employees" but wasn't more specific.
___
This story has been corrected to show the company says more than 16 million people miss work the day after the game, not 16.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
