5 ways brands capitalized on the Mayan apocalypse

The world didn’t end on Friday, but these companies still took advantage of the media-fueled frenzy surrounding the Mayan doomsday prediction.

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The ancient civilization’s calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012—Friday—which is creating a media-fueled frenzy that’s even spread offline. A school district in Michigan canceled classes on Thursday and Friday in part because of rumors surrounding the event as well as threats of violence, while casual sex seekers are on the hunt in New York because the end is apparently nigh.

Some had said on Thursday that there’s nothing to fear because it was already Dec. 21 in certain parts of the world, such as Australia and New Zealand. Too bad the Mayans operated on Central Time.

Of course, this nonsense was the talk of Twitter late Wednesday through much of Thursday, as tweets with (mostly bad) jokes poured in. For instance:

Mayan Guy: Hey wanna beer? Other Mayan Guy: I’m working on this calendar, but I guess if I don’t finish it won’t be the end of the world.

— Funny Tweets (@FunnyOrTruth) December 20, 2012

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