Super Myths

The Super Bowl has created a mythology all of its own. You might recognize some of these:

Did you know that more clothing is stained on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year?

Of course you didn't--it's fiction. But it's a good bet this made-up factoid will someday be repeated as fact.

Super Bowl week, known for putting the "hype" in hyperbole, is a fertile time for sprouting tall tales. Call it the event that launched a thousand lies, including these commonly cited classics:

Two-thirds of all avocados sold in the United States are purchased for consumption during the Super Bowl.

Water department officials across the country fearfully await the "halftime flush," when millions run to the bathroom at once, pushing water systems to the brink of calamity.

Lingerie sales jump in the days before the Super Bowl as women look for ways to woo their significant others away from the big game.

False, false and false (and slightly sexist).

But each of these nuggets of non-factual knowledge has a reasonable level of believability, giving them the potential to make other people say, "Wow, I didn't realize that."

John McDowell, a professor at the Folklore Institute at Indiana University, says this process is known as "legend formation."

And the legends keep being repeated: Miami braces for Super Bowl halftime flush