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From chips to pizza and beer, brands look to cash in on solar eclipse
The coming total solar eclipse will last less than five minutes, but the rare celestial event is inspiring days of promotions, with fast-food chains and others offering discounts, free snacks and limited-edition solar eclipse glasses.
Some part of the April 8 eclipse will be visible to nearly all in North America, but the totality of the event will cross 15 states from Texas to Maine, with cities and locations along that path among those looking to cash in.
Places with special landing pages and promotions include Erie County, Penn., which is offering ISO-certified eclipse glasses on a first-come, first-serve basis from Friday through Monday at three highway rest stops. County fair locations throughout northwest Pennsylvania are also offering eclipse glasses with every purchase.
Also along the eclipse path, the city of Indianapolis has restaurants serving up cosmic-themed cocktails. NASA and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are selling $20 tickets for admission, infield parking and limited-edition eclipse glasses.
The Waters Hotel at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is holding a weekend of Blacked Out events, including a rooftop solar eclipse viewing party.
Other venues are also holding live viewing events, including at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, where what’s billed as a VIP experience is sold out.
Warby Parker is giving away free, ISO-certified solar eclipse glasses at its stores from April 1 until the big day.
Krispy Kreme and Oreo are teaming up to offer a Total Solar Eclipse Doughnut, food blogger Markie Devo posted on Instagram.
Dippin; Dots is offering a 25% discount on online orders for those using the promo code eclipse25.
Burger King loyalty program members who text ECLIPSE to 251251 from April 8 through April 15 a buy-one-get-one-free Whopper deal on the burger chain’s app or online.
From April 8 through April 14, Marco’s Pizza is offering 50% off all menu-priced pizzas ordered online or through its app with the promo code ECLIPSE.
Yum Brands chain Pizza Hut is calling its current promotion a Total Eclipse of the Hut, offering any large pizza for $12.
Beer is not included in Blue Moon Brewing Co.’s Eclipse Sips kit that goes on sale for $25 on the company’s website midday on Wednesday. The kits include black light coasters, a flashlight, four Blue Moon pint gasses and some “moon dust” to make the company’s Blue Moon White Belgian-Style wheat ale “shimmer and glow.”
Cleveland-based Malley’s Chocolates is offering a treat for $2.75 called the Eclipse Ahoy online at at its 19 retail stores in Northwest Ohio. The candy maker’s concoction involves giving a Chips Ahoy cookie a creamy white bottom, topping it with chewy caramel and covering it in dark chocolate and galaxy sprinkles.
Jeni’s Ice Creams is including collectible eclipse glasses with online orders of its Punk Stargonaut collection now through Wednesday and at its retail stores starting Friday and while supplies last.
MoonPie is offering a 2024 Total Eclipse survival it for $9.99. It includes four chocolate MoonPie minis and two pairs of ISO-certified, MoonPie-branded solar eclipse gasses. The glasses can be ordered for $1.99 a piece.
Sonic Drive-In marked the coming eclipse by launching a Blackout Slush Float on March 25 and available nationwide through May 5. Each purchase of the celestial-inspired drink will come with a free pair of eclipse viewing glasses.
Frito Lays’ SunChips is offering a limited-time flavor for free, but only for a few minutes, while supplies last. Fans can enter to win a bag of Solar Eclipse chips by entering their email here at 1:33 p.m. Central on Friday, during the eclipse. Before the big day, fans can post their viewing plans on the SunChips Instagram account for a chance to be one of three random winners of a SunChips swag bag with blanket and other goodies.
Nowadays, what makes a martini a martini? Robert Simonson, who wrote a book about the martini, said, “It’s funny: it’s strict and loose at the same time.”
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Everyone seems to have an opinion about the cocktail: “Ingredients, proportions, garnishes – it’s all subject to debate,” Simonson said. “I’m a purist. I would think it needs to be gin and vermouth. But I’m willing to bend and say, ‘Okay, vodka and vermouth as well.’ [However,] if there’s no vermouth in there, I don’t know how you can call it a cocktail.”
Simonson says the martini was probably named after a vermouth company. It was invented in America in the 1870s or ’80s when bartenders mixed gin with vermouth, a fortified wine made with herbs and spices. “It’s a very big player in cocktail history,” he said.
In the early 20th century, the “very-dry” martini became very-popular: Ice cold gin or vodka, garnished with a lemon twist, or an olive, or an onion, but only a little vermouth (or maybe not even a little).
Samantha Casuga, the head bartender at Temple Bar in New York City, says the reason why many people might not want vermouth in their martini is because, for years, vermouth was stored improperly. “It should be in the fridge,” she said.
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Casuga’s classic martini is two parts gin, one part vermouth, with a twist of lemon. She suggests that you probably shouldn’t order it the way James Bond does – shaken, not stirred. Casuga says she’s always stirring, but some people like the show behind the bar when a bartender shakes their cocktail. “Definitely, people love a good shake,” she said.
People also love to have a martini made just the way they want it. But Casuga understands why they might be so specific: “To have your own preferences, not only listened to and then executed, is, like, that’s luxury itself.”
Writer Robert Simonson says that a martini can also add a little luxury to your Thanksgiving. “It actually makes very good sense for Thanksgiving,” he said. “It will whet your appetite for the meal to come.
“There are very few American inventions more American than the martini. So, an American holiday, American drink.”
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Story produced by Mary Raffalli. Editor: Remington Korper.
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