Want to be the Sausage King of Chicago?
Through May 16, Groupon, your source for cheaping out on a dinner date, is presenting the Official Ferris Bueller’s Experience sweepstakes in which one lucky winner will replicate the teen hero’s legendary day off in Chicago. The grand prize is a weekend trip for two to the Windy City which includes hotel accommodations, a luxury sports car rental, which you must return un-smashed, tickets to the Sears Tower Skydeck (sorry, can’t call it Willis), a baseball game, a visit to the Art Institute (kindergartners not included), dinner at Chicago’s acclaimed Everest restaurant, and more.
“Like Ferris, Groupon believes that life moves pretty fast, and we want to make sure no one misses the incredible things happening around them every day,” said Jon Wild, vice president of North America marketing, Groupon. “We’re proud to serve as the only place where people can create their own day-off experience and discover amazing local things to do — and you won’t have to drive home backward.”
Hilarious, Jon. Good one.
In addition to the sweepstakes, every day through May 16, 10 winners will receive tickets to see the actual movie, which is part of the year-long TCM Big Screen Classics series. Check your local listings for where it might be playing near you.
Hey Kids, remember John Hughes movies?
The prize sounds fantastic, but this will only appeal to those of a certain age, because, hate to say it: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” doesn’t hold up, in one important way. For kids seeing it today – they are puzzled as to how the charismatic, sneaky and dangerously manipulative Buelller stands out. Today, all teenagers are Ferris. Ferrisesque? Feral? His shenanigans, that so delighted we children of the 80s, are tame.
Growing up in Chicago, everyone knew someone who had been an extra in one of the scenes, and it was our first exposure to “Danke Schoen” and that wonder lady singer, Wayne Newton. We were proud of how beautiful our city looked in that film. Sure, once you got your driver’s license and sense of bearings, you did tend to start to calculate exactly how all of those crazy things could logistically happen in one average school day. Assuming no traffic on Lake Shore Drive, or Rush Street, and then finding accessible parking at Wrigley… oh, screw it, just enjoy the day off.
A former ABC National, Dallas and Atlanta radio personality, Martina O'Boyle is now making movies and covering culture in London, Dublin, and as far in Europe as the cheapie flights will take her, for Pop Culture Beast.