Hey guys, we made it! We’re already through this great tournament. This has been a ton of fun and honestly one of the most difficult brackets we’ve ever done. We’ve had a few Cinderella runs but in the end, it was the closest to scratch that we have ever done.
Just like every year, I like to make picks like I’m in an office pool before March Madness. For the first time, the Final 4 was exactly what I picked. I thought there was a chance for someone outside the top 2 to get into the Semi-Finals but the 1’s and 2’s were just so strong. After this great run, let’s see how the winners of each region fared in the Final Four and who will face off in the Championship!
The Championship Round voting begins now and will end Wednesday April 5 at 5pm Central. Championship winner will be announced on Thursday. I can’t believe we are already almost through this year!
But first — Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.
Final 4
Semi-Final #1
(1) Toys ‘R’ Us – “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” vs (2) Chili’s – “I Want My Baby Back”
Our Restaurants Region was the only one of the four that ended without the 1 seed making the Semi-Finals. The 2 seed Chili’s earworm “I Want My Baby Back” had a fairly easy run of things as they ran through 15 seed My Buddy 77-23 They came up just short of a full blown 100-0 victory in the Round of 32 winning 96-4 against the OG Burger King jingle. They flew through the Sweet 16 against the 3 seed Mentos, winning 73-27. In the Regional Final our 2 seed took it over Cinderella 8 seed Double Mint Gum 84-16.
The Companies Region had one of our most dominant runs I’ve ever seen by 1 seed Toys ‘R’ Us’ “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”. The Round of 64 started off with a 97-3 win over 16 seed Stanley Steemer who only got 1 vote. The Round of 32 saw a 96-4 win against 8 seed State Farm who got another 1 vote. I thought the Sweet 16 would be tighter but 4 seed Chia also could only garner 1 vote as well with Toys ‘R’ Us moving on 95-5. They got their biggest test in the Regional Final against a dominant Cinderella 11 seed Nair’s “Who Wears Short Shorts?”, ultimately taking the region 74-26.
Our first Semi-Final saw Toys ‘R’ Us continue their run, taking out the massive Chili’s jingle by a final of 74-26. The same score as their last win and the closest matches they have had. This very much felt like it could have gone either way but the juggernaut “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” is moving on to the ‘ship!
Semi-Final #2
(1) Folgers – “The Best Part of Waking Up” vs (1) Kit Kat – “Give Me a Break”
Our Drinks Region 1 seed started off the tournament by getting all but 1 vote, knocking off 16 seed “By Mennan” 97-3. The Round of 32 saw them take out a fun 9 seed “Wanta Fanta” by a final of 83-17. It looked like they would be tested in the Sweet 16 against 5 seed Band-Aid but they sailed on to the Regional Final winning 86-14. The Elite 8 was one I was quite unsure of but the 1 seed moved on to the Final 4, taking out upstart 6 seed Bud Light’s “Real Men of Genius” by a final of 68-32.
Our last 1 seed to make the Final 4 was in the Foods Region with Kit Kat’s “Give Me a Break”. Kit Kat got off to a hot start against 16 seed Rice-a-Roni 79-21. I thought the 8 seed Oscar Meyer’s “My Bologna Has a First Name” could give them a run and, boy, did they as the Round of 32 was decided in favor of Kit Kat after a 50-50 tiebreak from Mrs. Clumsy Optimist. They got another test in the Sweet 16 from 5 seed Klondike, ultimately winning 77-23. The Regional Final saw them take out personal favorite 3 seed, Pepto’s “Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion, Upset Stomach, Diarrhea”, by a final of 79-21.
The second of our Semi-Final match-ups was a much closer affair as it came down to only 2 votes with Folgers moving on to the Final via a 54-46 victory. I had no idea how to vote on this one and looking at the score, y’all were equally split. I checked this one a few times and it was never more than 3 or 4 votes one way or another.
After a really fun run up to the final game of the year we have Toys ‘R’ Us and Folgers going head to head. If I had to rank the 1 seeds, I probably would have gone with Toys ‘R’ Us, Folgers, Kit Kat, and McDonalds in that order. So these were my top two jingles going in. I cannot wait to see how this one turns out because I have no idea how I am going to vote on this one yet again.
After the Final Four, our bracket now looks like this:
Championship
(1) Toys ‘R’ Us – “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” vs (1) Folgers – “The Best Part of Waking Up”
Polls are open. Let’s get to voting and see who wins our Championship! Voting will close Wednesday April 5 at 5pm. Our champion will be announced on Thursday. Thank you all for reading and voting on these again this year. It’s something that makes me very happy every year.
The Clumsy Optimist 